Intro to Inequalities
Unequal Relationships
Equality isn't the only way mathematical expressions can be related. Inequalities relate an expression as being less then or greater than another.
STEP 1: ADD THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION TO YOUR NOTES
Whether you're solving equations or inequalities, all the same rules of solving still apply.
Your goal is to ISOLATE the variable
You can use INVERSE operations to "get rid of" numbers and/or variables
What you do to ONE expression, you must do to the other to maintain the relationship
There's just a few new things to remember when it comes to inequalities.
Rather than just having a single solution, inequalities have a RANGE of solutions, which is why their solutions are often graphed on a number line.
If you NEGATE an inequality (multiply or divide both sides by a negative number), you FLIP the relationship between the two expressions, so you must FLIP the inequality symbol.
Need more help? Check out the video examples at the bottom of the page for examples of graphing the solutions of inequalities, and solving one, two, and three step inequalities.
STEP 2: COMPLETE ONE LEVEL OF PRACTICE
NOTE: Graphing inequalities does not usually show up on the GED. It is useful for visualizing the SOLUTION after you solve an inequality and is good practice for college but isn't strictly necessary. If you are struggling to grasp the graphing, just focus your time and attention on SOLVING inequalities, which ALWAYS shows up on the GED Math test!
BEGINNER
First practice matching an inequality to its graph with a Khan Academy exercise, then practice solving one step inequalities with whole numbers.
EXPERIENCED
First practice graphing inequalities with a Khan Academy exercise, then move onto solving one step inequalities with negatives in a printable Kuta Software worksheet.
ADVANCED
First practice graphing challenging inequalities with a printable Kuta worksheet, then try solving challenging two step inequalities featuring negatives, parenthesis, and fractions.