Math 1 · Lesson 7 · part 4 of 7
Greater than means outside: the word is or
Now say |inside| > 5.
Greater than means outside: the word is or
Now say |inside| > 5. The inside is farther from zero than 5. That can happen in two different places: far out to the left, past −5, or far out to the right, past 5. A single number cannot be in both places, so the word is or:
inside < −5the inside is to the left of −5
or
inside > 5the inside is to the right of 5
Look at the left problem carefully. The sign faces the other way and the number is negative. Students who write inside > −5 for the left piece get the gap instead of the outsides. Remember: past −5 to the left means smaller than −5.
The whole lesson in two lines. Less than a distance: between, two problems joined by and. Greater than a distance: outside, two problems joined by or. Either way you set up two problems, solve both with the Lesson 6 rules, and get two answers with the right word between them.