In Physics what does the symbol that has two triangles ">>" pointing horizontally to the right mean?

Question

I am just beginning to study Physics and while learning about Newton's Laws I have seen the symbol when comparing two quantities, such as the masses of different objects. It looks similar to two greater-than symbols right next to each other, such as ">>" except the one on the right is slightly larger. If anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Answer 1

It means "much greater than" (or if the arrows pointed the other way, "much less than").

It is used when the quantity on the right is so small compared to the quantity on the left, that for all practical purposes the quantity on the left may be used (in the calculation) all by itself.

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Answer 2

>> means much greater than. It indicates that some quantity maybe hundreds or thousnads (or more) times greater than some other quantity. ">" is greater than but that could be 1.01>1 as easily as 100001 > 1. Both are true, but 1 is much less significant in the second case.

Answer 3

I believe it means that one of the numbers is very very large as compared to the other.

For example,
Mass of the Earth >> Mass of a man

Hope this helps.

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