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Hey there! Today we are going to explore inequalities, which help us compare things that aren't exactly equal.
In math, we use equations when things are perfectly equal. But in the real world, things are often unequal—like having 'more than' enough cash for a movie, or needing to be 'at least' 4 feet tall to ride a roller coaster!
The 'greater than' symbol (>) points to the right. Think of it like a hungry alligator's mouth that always opens wide toward the bigger, juicier number!
The 'less than' symbol (<) points to the left. We can show these relationships on a number line using an open circle to say 'not including this exact number' and shading the arrow in the direction of the answers.
✏️ Worked example
Graph the inequality x > 2 on a number line.
- Identify the starting boundary number, which is 2.
- Since the symbol is '>' (greater than) and not 'greater than or equal to', we draw an open circle at 2 to show that 2 itself is not part of the solution.
- Because x is greater than 2, all our possible answers lie to the right of 2.
- Draw a bold line starting from the open circle at 2 and shade all the way to the right arrow of your number line.
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