Algebra, Chapter 4, Lesson 5, page 187.
Using Inequalities
We learned key phrases for lesson 5 (word translation problems):
- “Less than or equal to”, “is at most”, “no more than” — ≤
- “No less than”, “at least”, “more than or equal to” — ≥
- “Is less than” — <
- “Is greater than” — >
We learned to read the problem, draw a picture or understand what is being asked of us before we start solving an equation or inequality.
Remember for 2 step inequalities, we do the same, again, as equalities and solve by:
- Distributing when required
- Combining like terms
- Adding or subtracting terms to isolate variables and numbers (constants)
- Multiplying or dividing to finish solving for the variable, remembering to reverse the sign of the inequality IF we multiply or divide by a NEGATIVE NUMBER.
Here are some keyword descriptions from purplemath.com to help us with word problems (ugh …)