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Graphing inequalities review

Review graphing inequalities with variables on number lines, and then try some practice problems.

Inequalities

Inequalities show the relation between two expressions that are not equal.
Below are some examples of inequalities:
9>7
6 < a+2
x<5

Inequalities symbols

SymbolMeaning
>Greater than
>Greater than or equal to
<Less than
<Less than or equal to

Graphing inequalities with variables

We can use a number line to show the possible solutions to an inequality.
Example 1: x>4
An inequality like x>4 tells us that x can be any value greater than 4.
We can show this on a number line by putting an open circle on 4 and shading the numbers that are greater than 4.
A number line from negative 5 to 5 with evenly spaced tick marks in increments of 1. A line going to the right starts at 4 and continues right. An open point is plotted at 4 where the line begins.
Example 2: y < 3
If we have either the > or < symbol in our inequality, we shade in the circle to show that the variable may be equal to that number.
For example, y < 3 is graphed as follows:
A number line from negative 5 to 5 with evenly spaced tick marks in increments of 1. A line going to the left starts at 3 and continues left. A closed point is plotted at 3 where the line begins.
This number line shows that y is either equal to 3 or less than 3.
Want to learn more about graphing inequalities? Check out this video.

Practice

Problem 1
Choose the inequality that represents the following graph.
A number line from negative 5 to 5 with evenly spaced tick marks in increments of 1. A line going to the right starts at negative 1 and continues right. An open point is plotted at negative 1 where the line begins.
Choose 1 answer:

Want to try more problems like this? Check out these exercises:
Inequality from graph
Plotting inequalities

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