Really Stupid Math Question

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Hi.

I'm retaking some math I should know from 8th grade because I suck and am not doing badly but SOMEHOW I got this wrong on my practice test.

5-|-4|

So I picked 9, because the two negative make a positive. Wrong? Why? My calculator says it's right. I didn't think the brackets meant anything. Should I treat it as 5+-4(5-4)=1?

Strangely for a test with more advanced material than this there were enough questions like this to lower my score substantially.

brackets mean absolute value, the difference away from zero. So it was pretty much 5-4, answer is 1

Thank you guys, off to take the exam e_e