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Greater or Less

Part of the Numbers & Operations section of Coddy's Pre-Algebra journey. Lesson 12 of 57.

On the number line, numbers grow as you move right. So a number further right is the greater one. That makes 2 greater than -5, and it also makes -2 greater than -7, because -2 sits five steps to the right of -7.

This feels backwards at first, since 7 is bigger than 2. Think of money: owing 7 dollars leaves you worse off than owing 2 dollars, so -7 is the smaller number. The further a negative number is from zero, the smaller it is.

The signs $\lt$ and $\gt$ record the comparison, and the narrow end always points at the smaller number: $-7 < -2$ and $2 > -5$ .

Challenge

Which sign goes between -11 and -14: less than, equal to, or greater than? Pick it in the box.

Try it yourself

-11 \;\boxed{\phantom{>}}\; -14

Pick the sign that makes it true

Test yourself

This lesson includes a short quiz. Start the lesson to answer it and track your progress.

All lessons in Numbers & Operations

2Mental Math

Friendly Pairs Take Away the Total Recap: Mental Math

5Subtracting Integers

Add the Opposite Subtracting a Negative Plus and Minus in a Row Distance Between Numbers Recap: Subtracting Integers

8Square Roots

Perfect Squares Undoing a Square Roots in Expressions The Root Sign Groups Between Two Whole Numbers Recap: Square Roots

11Final Challenges

Final: Every Rule at Once Final: Roots and Powers Final: The Freezer Final: Over the Bar Final: On the Line

3Negative Numbers

Below Zero OppositesGreater or LessAbsolute Value Recap: The Number Line

6Multiplying and Dividing

Negative Times Positive Two Negatives Counting the Negatives Dividing Integers Zero in Division Recap: Multiply and Divide

9Putting It All Together

Powers Before Products Negatives Inside Negative Bases in Sums Everything at Once Recap: The Full Order