Inequalities: Greater Than and Less Than, etc. (I'm > You)

Basic review on inequalities here:

The symbol > means is greater than
The symbol < means is less than

Since I'm left handed, I remember which symbol is which by remembering that being left handed is greater than being right handed. So there. Left > Right.

For those out there with a lot of self esteem, you can also remember it by "I'm > You" and "You're < Me"

Then there's the grade school way of remembering this symbol, which is basically to draw a great big fuzzy caterpillar with its mouth open. Since it's a great big hungry caterpillar, it's going to eat the bigger number. Yum!

 

Take that, Eric Carle

 Then there's the ≠ symbol, which means does not equal. Mainly used to point out a mistake or inaccuracy in a calculation.

And last and least of all, there's the ≈ symbol, which is used for rounding and estimating numbers. Good for when you're feeling lazy and looking for an answer that's "close enough". The correct term is approximately equals.

Personally, I don't like settling like that.