Math Is Fun Forum

Justin Fuentes

Guest

inequality

Please help me solve this problem and explain to me what number I am supposed to work with to find for X

M+5>-3

please show me how to graph my answer

thank you

mathsyperson

Moderator

Registered: 2005-06-22

Posts: 4,900

Re: inequality

I'm presuming you mean that you want to find M, because X doesn't appear anywhere.

Anyway, the basic way to solve inequalities like this is just to solve them as if they were normal equations.

M+5 > -3
Take away 5: M > -8.

The one difference is when you multiply or divide everything by a negative number. When you do that, you also need to reverse the direction of the sign. So, for example:

-M > 1
Multiply by -1: M < -1.

To graph your solution, you'd draw a number line, then an empty circle above -8, with another line going off from that circle to the right. The circle is empty to convey that -8 is not included in the solution. If it was, because M ≥ -8, then the circle would be filled in.

---

Why did the vector cross the road?
It wanted to be normal.