When plotting on the real number line, the numbers increase or decrease as we move to the right or left of the number line.

When one number is bigger than another, we say it is greater than the number.

When another number is smaller than the number we say it is less than the number.

The symbols discussed below are called comparison symbols, as they are the symbols we use to compare two or more numbers or values.

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Greater Than (>)

Given any number on the number line, all the numbers to the right of that number are bigger than the given number. It also implies that all the numbers to the left of the number are smaller than the given number.

For instance, on the real number line, five (5) is on the right hand side of four(4). We can therefore say that 5 is bigger than four (4).

In Mathematics, when a number is bigger than another number we use the greater than sign (>) to show this comparison. So in our example, we would write:

\[5 > 4\]

Read as, "5 is greater than 4."

Note:
You can mimic the greater than sign by bending your right hand.

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Less Than (<)

Similarly, the value of the numbers decrease as we move to the left of any number on the number line.

We can therefore say, that the numbers to the left of any given number on the real number line are smaller than the number in question.

For instance, on the real number line above, two is on the left hand side of 3. This implies that two (2) is smaller than three (3).

In Mathematics, we use the less than sign (<) to represent this comparison. We can therefore write the mathematical statement below:

\[2 < 3\]

Read as, "2 is less than 3."

Note:
You can mimic the less than sign by bending your left hand.

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Equal to (=)

When two quantities have the same value, we say that one is equal to the other.

We use the equal to symbol to indicate this comparison.

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