When graphing inequalities what do you change to an equals sign?

Question

 hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Answer 1

You change the "=" to either a

 

"≤" , which means less than or equal to

 

                or

 

"≥" , which means greater than or equal to

 

 

These symbols indicate the solution of the inequality is a range of numbers, including the number it equals to.  When you graph the solution of the inequality, you draw an open circle at the number on the number line it equals to.  Then draw an arrow in the left direction from the closed circle if less than.  Draw an arrow in the right direction from the closed circle if greater than.

 

 

One thing I should add:
When you divide both sides of the inequality by a negative number when solving the inequality, you must flip the signs.
 
For example:
 
-x ≥ 2         becomes      x ≤ -2       , rather than      x ≥ -2

 
Here is the reason why we do this.
 
If we plug in x = -2 into the original inequality, the inequality is true.
 
If we plug in x = -3 into the original inequality, the inequality is true.
 
If we plug in x = -1 into the original inequality, the inequality is false.