Writing and Graphing Inequalities

Front

What is an inequality?

Back

An inequality is a mathematical statement that compares two expressions using inequality symbols such as <, >, ≤, or ≥.

Front

What does the symbol '>' mean?

Back

The symbol '>' means 'greater than'. For example, 5 > 3 means 5 is greater than 3.

Front

What does the symbol '<' mean?

Back

The symbol '<' means 'less than'. For example, 2 < 4 means 2 is less than 4.

Front

What does the symbol '≥' mean?

Back

The symbol '≥' means 'greater than or equal to'. For example, x ≥ 5 means x is greater than or equal to 5.

Front

What does the symbol '≤' mean?

Back

The symbol '≤' means 'less than or equal to'. For example, y ≤ 10 means y is less than or equal to 10.

Front

How do you graph the inequality x > 3?

Back

To graph x > 3, draw a number line, place an open circle at 3, and shade to the right to indicate all numbers greater than 3.

Front

How do you graph the inequality y ≤ 4?

Back

To graph y ≤ 4, draw a number line, place a closed circle at 4, and shade to the left to indicate all numbers less than or equal to 4.

Front

What does it mean if a circle is colored in on a graph?

Back

A colored-in circle indicates that the number is included in the solution set (for ≤ or ≥ inequalities).

Front

What does it mean if a circle is open on a graph?

Back

An open circle indicates that the number is not included in the solution set (for < or > inequalities).

Front

If n is at least 17, how can this be expressed as an inequality?

Back

This can be expressed as n ≥ 17.