MathIsimple
Back to Unit 3

Lesson 3-4: Inequalities

Scenario: Shopping Budget - Solve inequalities to stay within your budget!

Duration: 55-70 minutesScenario: Shopping Budget

Learning Objectives

  • Understand inequality symbols (≤, ≥, <, >) and their meanings
  • Solve multi-step inequalities using inverse operations
  • Represent inequality solutions on number lines
  • Apply inequalities to real-world constraint problems

Shopping Budget Problem

Budget Constraint

Xiao Ming has $80 to spend. He wants to buy a backpack for $35 and some notebooks. If each notebook costs $x, how many notebooks can he buy without exceeding his budget?

Problem: Backpack cost + Notebook cost ≤ Total budget

Step-by-Step Solution

Step 1: Write the inequality

35 + x × n ≤ 80
Where n = number of notebooks

Step 2: Solve for n

x × n ≤ 80 - 35
x × n ≤ 45
n ≤ 45/x

Step 3: Example with specific price

If x = $5: n ≤ 45/5 = 9
He can buy at most 9 notebooks

Answer: n ≤ 45/x notebooks (where x is the price per notebook)

Inequality Symbols

Understanding the Symbols

<

Less than

Example: x < 5

Less than or equal to

Example: x ≤ 5

>

Greater than

Example: x > 3

Greater than or equal to

Example: x ≥ 3

Number Line Representation

How to Draw Solutions

x > 4

4

Open circle at 4, arrow pointing right (x > 4)

x ≤ 7

7

Closed circle at 7, arrow pointing left (x ≤ 7)

More Examples

Example 1: Multi-step Inequality

Solve: 2x + 7 > 15

Solution:
2x + 7 > 15
2x > 15 - 7
2x > 8
x > 4

Example 2: Fraction Inequality

Solve: (x/3) - 2 ≤ 1

Solution:
(x/3) - 2 ≤ 1
x/3 ≤ 1 + 2
x/3 ≤ 3
x ≤ 9

Practice Problems

Problem 1

Solve: 3x - 5 < 10

Your solution:

Problem 2

A student has $50. She wants to buy some books at $8 each and still have at least $10 left. How many books can she buy?

Your solution: