The phrase is more than divides the sentence into what should be on the left-hand side and what should be on the right-hand side of the inequality.
Inequality:
b-3 > 15 Solution: b > 18
Practice makes perfect
We are given a word sentence and we want to write an inequality that it represents.
Three less than a number b is more than 15.
Every inequality has an inequality symbol and values or expressions on either side of this symbol. In this exercise, we have the phrase is more than, so we can identify that the inequality symbol should be >.
Three less than a number b > 15.
On the left-hand side, we have the phrase Three less than number b. These words tell us that b is a variable symbol. The words Three less than tell us that we have to use subtraction in our inequality.
Three less than a number b > 15.
b - 3 > 15
On the right-hand side, we have the constant -15. If we put these sides together, we have a complete inequality.
Three less than a number b is more than 15.
b - 3 > 15
Now let's solve this inequality. Remember that inequalities can be solved in the same way as equations — by performing inverse operations on both sides until the variable is isolated. The only difference is that when we divide or multiply by a negative number, we must reverse the inequality sign.
