Example Variable: n= million online students who do not use the Internet at school Inequality: n > 21-16 Solution Set: { n | n > 5 } Interpretation See solution.
Practice makes perfect
We will first translate the given information into algebraic symbols and operations. Then, we will solve the inequality.
Writing the Inequality
We want to find the number of online teens that do not use the Internet at school. Let's call this value n. For simplicity, let's let this value be in millions of people. To help us find this value, we will use a few key phrases.
Verbal Expression
Algebraic Expression
More than
>
Number of teenagers that use the Internet
21 million
Number of teenagers that use the Internet at school
16 million
Millions of teenagers that do not use the Internet at school
n
Since the survey found that more than 21 million people between the ages of 12 and 17 use the Internet and that about 16 million said that they use the Internet at school, the variable n would be more than the difference between 21 million and 16 million.
Inequality: n > 21-16
Solving the Inequality
To find how many millions of teens do not use the Internet at school, we will simplify the inequality we wrote.
Let's write the solution set in set-builder notation.
Solution Set: { n | n > 5 }
There are more than 5 million students who do not use the Internet at school.
