Tutor profile: Abigail M.

How do you know if two lines are parallel on a coordinate plane?

Parallel lines are when two lines are in the same plane and they never intersect, or cross. In a coordinate plane, determining if the slope of the lines are the same is a great way to see if they are parallel. If each line is going up and over (rise / run for slope) at the same pattern, then there is no way that they could ever intersect each other!

How can I change .60 to a fraction?

The easiest way I have found to go between decimals and fractions is to use your 10's places (10, 100, 1000, 10000, ... ). What I mean by this is to take the number after the decimal (60) and place it over the 10's place that is one larger than that number (100). 60 / 100 can be simplified by dividing both the top and bottom by a greatest common factor of 20 to get a simplified fraction of 3/5.

Why can the absolute value of a number never equal a negative?

Since absolute value refers to the distance a number is away from zero, it always has to be positive -- you can never have a negative distance. I like the think about running on a track. If I run a mile forward, I've run a mile. If I run a mile backwards, I still have run the whole mile, it doesn't suddenly change to a negative mile. Distance is always going to be a positive value!