Question

Use the number line to show some of the ages of people who do not need to be accompanied by an adult. Write an inequality to represent the ages of people, n, who do not need to be accompanied by an adult.

A blank number line.

Answer 1

I don’t see the age cutoff in your problem. What age is the rule using (for example, “people 13 and older do not need to be accompanied” or “people older than 12 do not need to be accompanied”)?

If you don’t have a specific cutoff, here are two common ways to show it and the corresponding inequality — you can pick the one that matches your situation:

- If the rule is “people 13 and older do not need to be accompanied”:
- Number line: put a filled (closed) dot at 13 and shade or draw an arrow to the right (showing all numbers 13, 14, 15, ...).
- Inequality: n ≥ 13

- If the rule is “people older than 12 do not need to be accompanied” (same set, written differently):
- Number line: put an open dot at 12 and draw an arrow to the right.
- Inequality: n > 12

Tell me the cutoff and I’ll draw the correct number-line picture and give the precise inequality.