Simple math question??

Question

I feel bad for not remembering this. But it was a LONG time ago that i was tought what it ment.

Here it is:

What does > mean??

OR < ???

If i remember correctly. If someone says the like apples more than oranges. Then it can be written like this:

Apples > Oranges
OR
Oranges < Apples

Or something like that.

You know i kind of blame my teacher for me not remebering it, because the way they tought me was that the > or < was a mouth (Or to give you a better idea, a "Pac-Man" like object). Which if i pointed it to the left, ment i would rather eat from the left than the right, and vis versa.

Answer 1

It means Greater than or Less than
> is greater, < is less
like Apples > Oranges means that apples are greater than oranges. Apples < Oranges means that apples are less than oranges.
I was taught the same thing (it was called an alligator who eats the side with more or something like that).

If you see something with that symbol and an equal sign under it, that means equal to or greater/less than (depending upon which way the alligator is facing).

Answer 2

Consider 9 > 5
I remember this by saying that 9 is at the "big end" of the > sign. Therefore 9 is bigger than 5.
Similarly 5 is at the "small end" so 5 is less than 9.
Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Why so complicated way of remembering? Why can't you simly remember that

a > b means a is greater than b and

a < b means a is less than b.

The wider portion indicates the bigger quantity in the relationship.

Answer 4

< is the mathematical symbol for "less than."

> is the mathematical symbol for "greater than."

For instance, 7<12 would read "seven is less than twelve," and 114>96 would read "one hundred-fourteen is greater than nintey-six."

Answer 5

> means greater than
< means less than

Answer 6

x > y means x is greater than y
x < y means x is less than y
.