Math Is Fun Forum

tina123

Member

Registered: 2012-04-29

Posts: 83

-1< -2 or -1> -2 , which one is true ?

Sorry .. probably  its a stupid question but important for me .

I always have confusion that in real line.
-1 < -2 is true or
-1 > -2
Which is true ?

Thanks

noelevans

Member

Registered: 2012-07-20

Posts: 236

Re: -1< -2 or -1> -2 , which one is true ?

Hi tina123!

  Look at the number line:

   ... -3   -2    -1    0     1    2    3 ...
_____.___.___.___.___.___.___.___

To the left means smaller or less than.
Since -2 is to the left of -1, then -2<-1.

More generally

...-3<-2<-1<0<1<2<3...

You'll get it!

---

Writing "pretty" math (two dimensional) is easier to read and grasp than LaTex (one dimensional).
LaTex is like painting on many strips of paper and then stacking them to see what picture they make.