One example of absolute value in the real world is subtraction.
For example, you have 17_____ and your friend has 62_____.
if you want to see how many more _____ your friend has, you want to make sure that the answer will be positive. The way that you do this is you subtract |17 - 62| = 45
(I know.... You could just do 62 - 17, but absolute value can be used so you can subtract |a - b| and |b - a|, and they will turn out the same.)
