When you multiply or divide by a negative number, you need to flip the “greater than” or “less than” sign along with it.ĭon't Multiply or Divide by a Variable-Most of the Time Negative Numbers Change the Greater Than or Less Than Signĭon’t forget that performing certain actions will flip the sign. Focus on condensing numbers and canceling things out when you can, always with the goal of getting the variable alone on either side of the equation. When you’re working with inequalities with variables, it’s important to remember that, in general, you’ll be trying to isolate the variable to one side or the other. You don’t need to end up with two numbers on either side of an equal sign to be right-the answer just needs to be true.
Keep in mind as you’re working on inequalities that they’re typically asking you to solve for a relationship or to identify which symbol is appropriate rather than asking you to solve for a single number. When you're working with inequalities, keep these things in mind to help ease you through the process. Inequalities are tricky-we’re used to having a clear and concrete answer for math problems, but inequalities don't always give us that. Keep these things in mind and you'll look this happy about working with inequalities. If you see an equal sign crossed out, it means that the equal sign doesn’t apply-thus, 2 ≠ 3 means that 2 does not equal 3. The “does not equal” sign is even easier! It’s just an equal sign crossed out.
1 ≤ 2 or 3 shows us a less than sign over half of an equal sign, so we know it means that 1 is less than or equal to 2 or 3. For example, 4 or 3 ≥ 1 shows us a greater sign over half an equal sign, meaning that 4 or 3 are greater than or equal to 1. Once you’ve mastered the Alligator or L method, the other symbols are easy! “Greater than or equal to” and “less than or equal to” are just the applicable symbol with half an equal sign under it. If you see 5, so doesn’t look like an L, it can’t be “less than.” All inequality signs give us the relationship between the first number and the second, beginning with the first number, so 4 > 3 translates to “4 is greater than 3.” The alligator’s mouth is open toward the 4, so even if we weren’t sure that 4 is a bigger number than 3, the > sign would tell us. The alligator always wants to eat the larger number of fish, so whatever number the mouth is open toward is the larger number. One of the best ways to memorize the greater than and less than signs is to imagine them as little alligators (or crocodiles), with the numbers on either side representing a number of fish. All of them look similar, with the exception of the “does not equal” sign. Though the greater than and less than signs have clear meanings, they can be kind of hard to remember.
Does not equal sign stata how to#
How to Remember Greater Than and Less Than Signs Now we'll finally get to talk about why all these photos are of crocodiles. Greater than or equal to-the number on the left is greater than or equal to the number on the right 2 or 3 ≥ 2ĭoes not equal-the number on the left does not equal the number on the right 2 ≠ 3 Less than or equal to-the number on the left is less than or equal to the number on the right 2 or 3 ≤ 3 Greater than-the number on the left is greater than the number on the right 3 > 2
We’re all familiar with the equal sign, “=” at this point in math. Hence the name “inequality” means that two things are not equal. Inequalities are math problems that don’t resolve with a clear “equals” answer-instead, they compare two things, demonstrating the relationship between them rather than showing that one is equal to another. What Are Greater Than and Less Than Signs For? Not knowing what the signs mean may make your math homework feel something like this. In this article, we’ll be talking about what inequalities are, how they’re represented, and how to remember which sign means what. But these symbols are very useful, because they help us show the relationship between numbers or equations in a way that doesn't just say that they're equal. What do those little sideways carat symbols mean? They're inequalities! Inequalities can be difficult to get a handle on, especially because the greater than and less than signs look so similar.
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