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Mathematica® Teacher's Edition (2002)

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Sign

FilledSmallSquare Sign[x] gives -1, 0 or 1 depending on whether x is negative, zero, or positive.

FilledSmallSquare For non-zero complex numbers z, Sign[z] is defined as z/Abs[z].
FilledSmallSquare Sign tries simple transformations in trying to determine the sign of symbolic expressions.
FilledSmallSquare For exact numeric quantities, Sign internally uses numerical approximations to establish its result.
FilledSmallSquare See The Mathematica Book on the web: Section 3.2.2.
FilledSmallSquare See also: Abs, Positive, Negative, NonNegative, Greater, Simplify.