We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide
Son's teacher needs to go back to school
Comments
-
peaceandfreedom wrote: »So, >30 or 30< reads 'greater than 30' or '30 less than'.
<30 or 30> reads 'less than 30' or '30 greater than'.
Whatever way you cut it a > symbol, reading left to right, means greater than.
You could argue that if you read the statement backwards, then > doesn't mean greater than, but given the misunderstandings that many people have, I think we should stick to reading from left to right.
The point is (going back to the OP), whatever direction you read '>30' in, it is never going to mean 'less than 30'.
Exactly - in essence > is the inequality sign for "is greater than" but has to be applied in the sense in which is situated, maybe my explaination wasn't the best way of wording it, but I think it gets the point across?If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands
0 -
That does not explain how some on here seem able to read '>30' as 'less than 30' which is what we've been arguing.
Keep up!
It does always mean greater than, as 5 is greater than x.
It may be reversible in some cases, but it still means 'greater than'!
See above lol
I was trying to over-simplify it by giving examples...If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands
0 -
Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »I know it makes no sense.
That was my point.
Which is that > or < only means anything when something is either side of it.
Saying that > is the greater than symbol is meaningless on it's own - otherwise everything on the left would ALWAYS be greater than everything on the right - which is patently not true.
But in the question given, there is numbers to put in front and a number to put after the sign, so how on earth can be read as less than??0 -
I think we could all agree that:
20>30 is false and 30>20 is true, and leave it at that.
All this hair-splitting will not make the teacher in question any less wrong. *silent scream*0 -
I think we could all agree that:
20>30 is false and 30>20 is true, and leave it at that.
All this hair-splitting will not make the teacher in question any less wrong. *silent scream*
I know, but I can't wait for the maths teacher to return and tell us why the teacher could be correct!0 -
Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »I know it makes no sense.
That was my point.
Which is that > or < only means anything when something is either side of it.
Saying that > is the greater than symbol is meaningless on it's own - otherwise everything on the left would ALWAYS be greater than everything on the right - which is patently not true.
Not quite...
if you are trying to state that the number 30 was greater than the number 60, you could still use the >, but the position of the numbers should change:
i.e. 60>30
> ALWAYS means greater than
< ALWAYS means less than
How the numbers are located is the issue, NOT the actual sign...
30>60=FALSE
60>30=TRUE If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands
0 -
I think we could all agree that:
20>30 is false and 30>20 is true, and leave it at that.
All this hair-splitting will not make the teacher in question any less wrong. *silent scream*
Quite!
I think this whole conversation is
... If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands
0 -
But in the question given, there is numbers to put in front and a number to put after the sign, so how on earth can be read as less than??
It can't!
I have never said that >30 is less than 30 - that would be nonsense.
just that calling these >< 'greater than' or 'less than' signs are meaningless unless there is something either side....as they are both less than or greater than signs depending on how you read it.If you haven't got it - please don't flaunt it. TIA.0 -
Not quite...
if you are trying to state that the number 30 was greater than the number 60, you could still use the >, but the position of the numbers should change:
i.e. 60>30
> ALWAYS means greater than
< ALWAYS means less than
How the numbers are located is the issue, NOT the actual sign...
30>60=FALSE 60>30=TRUE
YES I KNOW THAT!!!
However, > does not always mean greater than and < does not always mean less than. BOTH of them mean less than or greater than depending on what is each side of the equation.
If you haven't got it - please don't flaunt it. TIA.0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 354.2K Banking & Borrowing
- 254.3K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 455.3K Spending & Discounts
- 247.2K Work, Benefits & Business
- 603.8K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 178.4K Life & Family
- 261.3K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.7K Read-Only Boards