the sum of twice a number and 5 is at most 3 less than the number

Answer 1

I assume that you're looking for an inequality that matches the statement.

How about 2x + 5 ≤ x - 3

Answer 2

I think that what you're trying to do is to translate this into a mathematical inequality, right?

The key here is that "is at most" will be a ≤ (less than equal to) sign. The phrase before that "the sum of twice a number and 5" and the phrase after that "3 less than the number" will be on the opposite sides of that inequality sign.

So your inequality will be:

2x + 5 ≤ x - 3