Question

The sum of 4.5 and one-third a number is equal to at most 38.9. What are all the possible values of the number? How would you write an inequality that could be used to solve this problem?

Answer 1

Let the number be x. The inequality is

4.5 + (1/3)x ≤ 38.9.

Solve:
(1/3)x ≤ 38.9 − 4.5 = 34.4
x ≤ 3·34.4 = 103.2.

All possible values are x ≤ 103.2 (in interval notation: (−∞, 103.2]).