7.10: Translating English to Math
- Page ID
- 48756
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Words Are Important!
When working with probability and statistics, words such as “more than” or “less than” can drastically change the answer. Table \(\PageIndex{1}\) shows some of the common phrases you may run into while reading a problem. It will be essential later in the course that you can correctly match these phrases with their correct symbol.
| = | ≤ | ≥ |
|---|---|---|
| is the same as | is less than or equal to | is greater than or equal to |
| is equal to | is at most | is at least |
| is exactly the same as | is not greater than | is not less than |
| has not changed from | within |
| ≠ | > | < |
|---|---|---|
| is not | is more than | is less than |
| is not equal to | is greater than | is below |
| is different from | is above | is lower than |
| has changed from | is higher than | is shorter than |
| is not the same as | is longer than | is smaller than |
| is bigger than | has decreased | |
| has increased | is reduced |
Table \(\PageIndex{1}\)
Translate the following to mathematical expressions when rolling 2 dice:
- Rolling a sum of less than 5.
- Rolling a sum that is above 5.
- Rolling a sum of no less than 8.
- Rolling a sum of at most 8.
Solution
Let \(x\) be the sum of the dice.
- The mathematical expression for rolling a sum of less than 5 would be:
\[x < 5 \nonumber\]
- The mathematical expression for rolling a sum that is above 5 would be:
\[x > 5 \nonumber\]
- The mathematical expression for rolling a sum of no less than 8 would be:
\[x ≥ 8 \nonumber\]
- The mathematical expression for rolling a sum of at most 8 would be:
\[x ≤ 8 \nonumber\]