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Son's teacher needs to go back to school
Comments
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Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »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.
Yes it does!!! You always read a maths equation from left to right!
x>5 = x is greater than 5
5>x = 5 is greater than x
x<5 = x is less than 5
5<x = 5 is less than x
you can't say that, just because sometimes the numbers are put into the wrong place, that a standardised mathematical symbol can have it's meaning changed...
If the numbers are in the wrong place, you change the numbers around, not the meaning of the sign...
I have edited my initial post to make it simplier...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
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Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »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 they were meaningless or interchangeable there would be no need for them.
They cannot simply be swapped, or you'd have a different calculation, no matter where the symbol and figures are placed.
All it means is that it can be read either way in some equations, but that isn't the same as saying it becomes a different sign.0 -
Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »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.
Aaaaaaargh.....No they don't!!!!
30>60 STILL means "30 is greater than 60", but that doesn't make the expression TRUE!
You can say "a cow is bigger than an elephant", that doesn't make it true!
I'm going to go lie down in a dark room after this.0 -
Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »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.
No, you dont need anything either side, you just need to use thr right sign:
<30 = less than 30
>30 = greater than 30
you don't put the sign on the right hand side of the number, ever...
UNLESS you have multiple variables i.e. 5<x<10If 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
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Aaaaaaargh.....No they don't!!!!
30>60 STILL means "30 is greater than 60", but that doesn't make the expression TRUE!
You can say "a cow is bigger than an elephant", that doesn't make it true!
I'm going to go lie down in a dark room after this.
It also means that 60 is less than 30. And that is also false.
Enjoy your nap.
If you haven't got it - please don't flaunt it. TIA.0 -
Here you go:
http://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/definition/Mathematical-Symbols
Scroll down about half way and it shows you the symbols...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
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No, you dont need anything either side, you just need to use thr right sign:
<30 = less than 30
>30 = greater than 30
you don't put the sign on the right hand side of the number, ever...
UNLESS you have multiple variables i.e. 5<x<10
Having one IS either side. As in, either/or.If you haven't got it - please don't flaunt it. TIA.0 -
Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »It also means that 60 is less than 30. And that is also false.
Enjoy your nap.
No it doesn't
60<30 means that 60 is less than 30...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
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Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »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.
No they don't. What's on either side of the equation matters not a jot.
< is less than
> is greater than
If you write 30>60, it doesn't mean that > means less than, it means you have written a false statement.
If you had that kind of comparison in a computer program (and you do all the time, only using variables instead of numbers) then the statement would evaluate as false and the program would move on to the next statement. The program would not say to itself 'Hmmm, clearly 30 is not greater than 60, they must mean less than'.0 -
Here you go:
http://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/definition/Mathematical-Symbols
Scroll down about half way and it shows you the symbols...
Exactly...
> Inequality sign ... is greater than ... Indicates value on left
is larger than
value on right 5 > 3
x > y
...is greater than....
you need the ... on EITHER side to quantify it.
Just as 5>3 means '5 is greater than 3' it ALSO means that '3 is less than 5'.If you haven't got it - please don't flaunt it. TIA.0
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