The greater than, less than, or equal symbols are widely used in Mathematics at any level. But above all, in Primary Education, they are used a lot to order numbers. The equals sign has no difficulty since it indicates that two numbers are exactly the same. So if we encounter the number 2 twice, we can say that 2 = 2.
The signs of greater than and less than many children confuse them. To prevent this, there is a very good trick. All they have to do is look at the symbol. The greater than symbol (>) indicates that, the greater number has to be placed to its left since the opening (the greater side of the character) is to the left. Instead, the smaller number would be placed on the right since the vertex (the smaller side of the symbol) is on the right. Thus, if we want to say that 9 is greater than 7, we would indicate it in this way: 9 > 7. The symbol for less than is exactly the same as the one for greater than but in reverse.
Also, if you want to practice these symbols, I have left you some printable exercises on our website.
Comparing Quantities [Worksheets PACK]
If you want to read more articles similar to Greater than, less than, or equal to, we recommend you visit our Math category.
