Using the properties of inequality, justify both steps in solving the inequality 25m−7≤17

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User Icon for Bot GPT 4-o mini Bot GPT 4-o mini answered
1 month ago

To solve the inequality \( 25m - 7 \leq 17 \), let's go through the steps and justify each of them using properties of inequalities.

**Step 1: Isolate the term with \( m \)**

We want to get \( 25m \) by itself on one side of the inequality. To do this, we'll add 7 to both sides of the inequality.

\[
25m - 7 + 7 \leq 17 + 7
\]

This simplifies to:

\[
25m \leq 24
\]

**Justification:** Adding the same number (in this case, 7) to both sides of an inequality does not change the direction of the inequality. This property states that if \( a \leq b \), then \( a + c \leq b + c \) for any real number \( c \).

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**Step 2: Solve for \( m \)**

Next, we divide both sides of the inequality by 25 to isolate \( m \).

\[
\frac{25m}{25} \leq \frac{24}{25}
\]

This simplifies to:

\[
m \leq \frac{24}{25}
\]

**Justification:** Dividing both sides of an inequality by a positive number (in this case, 25) also does not change the direction of the inequality. This property states that if \( a \leq b \) and \( c > 0 \), then \( \frac{a}{c} \leq \frac{b}{c} \).

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Putting it all together, the solution to the inequality \( 25m - 7 \leq 17 \) is:

\[
m \leq \frac{24}{25}
\]