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When comparing real numbers x and y, there are three possibilities: x is greater than y (x > y), x less than you (x < y), and x equal to y (x=y). There is no other possibility. That fact is called trichotomy.
When you are asked to solve inequality like x-3 > 0, you are asked to find all possible values of x that make the inequality true. For instance, x=10 makes the inequality true: 10-3 > 0, whereas x = 1 makes it false: 1-3 > 0. Be careful solving inequalities, they are harder to solve than equations and require more attention. You can multiply an equation by a positive or negative number and get an equivalent equation. Not so with inequalities: when multiplying it by a negative number, you need tochange sign of the inequality. Algebra.Com is a people's math website. It relies on people, such as yourself, who create our content. All solvers and lessons are submitted by algebra.com's users. They retain copyright to their content, although they do grant rights to algebra.com. Creating lessons is easy! Look for other lessons and click on 'view source'. All you have to really know is mathematics. |
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