We want to find the graph of the given inequality. To graph an inequality on a number line, we need to make note of two things. The first thing is the direction of the inequality and the second thing is whether it is strict. Let's consider the given inequality.
y < 1/2
We see that all values of y are less than 12. Since y cannot equal 12 we draw an open circle at this point. We will shade the part of the number line that represents numbers less than 12. This means that we shade to the left of our point at 12. Let's do this!