The phrase is less 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: x - 8 < 10 Solution: x< 18
Practice makes perfect
We are given a verbal expression and we want to write an inequality that it represents. Then, we will solve the inequality.
Eight less than a number is less than10.
Let's start by defining a variable. We can name a number in the sentence as x.
Eight less than xis less than10
Every inequality has an inequality symbol and values or expressions on either side of this symbol. In this exercise, we have the phrase less than, so we can identify that the inequality symbol should be <.
Eight less thanx < 10
On the left-hand side, we have one key phrase: less than. These words tell us the operations that will be used in our inequality. less than indicates subtraction.
Eight less than x
x - 8
On the right-hand side, we have a constant. Putting these sides together, we have a complete inequality.
Eight less than a number is less than 10.
x - 8 < 10
Finally, we can solve the inequality. To do so, we will use the Addition Property of Inequality. This will eliminate the addition and isolate x.
