In the previous section, you examined ways that you can write inequalities to describe a given situation. You can also apply that skill to do the opposite: write a situation to match a given inequality.
Consider the following inequality:
y < 350 – 14x
This inequality could describe any of the following situations.
| Mrs. Cobb has saved $350. Movies cost $14. How many movies, x, can Mrs. Cobb purchase and still have y dollars left in her savings? |
Arturo can drive 350 miles on a full tank of gasoline, and his truck gets 14 miles per gallon. How many miles, y, can Arturo drive on x gallons of gasoline? |
There are 14 steps in a flight of stairs. Angela wants to climb less than 350 steps and has already climbed x flights of stairs. What is the number of steps, y, that Angela could still climb? |
In the interactive below, three possible situations are listed for the given inequality. At least one of the situations does not describe the inequality. Identify the situation(s) that cannot be modeled using the given inequality by clicking the box beneath the situation.