To solve the inequality \( \frac{5}{9}w \geq 8 \), the next step is to isolate \( w \).
To do this, you should multiply both sides of the inequality by the reciprocal of \( \frac{5}{9} \), which is \( \frac{9}{5} \). Here's how it looks:
\[ w \geq 8 \times \frac{9}{5} \]
Thus, the inequality becomes:
\[ w \geq \frac{72}{5} \]
Calculating \( \frac{72}{5} \) gives you \( 14.4 \).
So, the final solution is:
\[ w \geq 14.4 \]
Therefore, the needed step to solve the inequality is to multiply both sides by \( \frac{9}{5} \).