abs() Builtin Function - Python Examples

Contents

Introduction
Syntax
Examples
Absolute value of a number
Absolute value of numeric expression
Absolute value of a string – TypeError
Summary

Python – abs()

Python abs() builtin function returns the absolute value of a given number.

Syntax

The syntax of abs() function is

abs(x)

where x can be a number, or expression that evaluates to a number.

Examples

Absolute value of a number

In this example, we will find the absolute value of a negative number.

Python Program

x = -523
absVal = abs(x)
print(f'Absolute value of {x} is {absVal}.')

Run

Output

Absolute value of -523 is 523.

Absolute value of numeric expression

In this example, we will pass an expression to the abs() function, where the expression evaluates to a numeric value. abs() returns the absolute value of the expression’s resulting value.

Python Program

a = -523
b = 451
absVal = abs(a+b)
print(f'Absolute value of the expression (a+b) is {absVal}.')

Run

Output

Absolute value of the expression (a+b) is 72.

Absolute value of a string – TypeError

If we provide an argument of any non-numeric type like string, abs() function raises TypeError.

Python Program

x = 'hello'
absVal = abs(x)
print(f'Absolute value of {x} is {absVal}.')

Run

Output

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "example1.py", line 2, in <module>
    absVal = abs(x)
TypeError: bad operand type for abs(): 'str'

Summary

In this tutorial of Python Examples, we learned the syntax of abs() function, and how to find the absolute value of a number or a numeric expression using abs() function with examples.