ONE SIDE of the INEQUALITY SIGN.
Thus, the problem is now in a form
with ZERO on ONE SIDE.
2) FACTOR the algebraic expression.
3) IGNORE the INEQUALITY SIGN
and WORK with as if it was
just EQUAL TO ZERO.
SOLVE! (Set each FACTOR = 0)
4) MARK the solutions to STEP #3
onto a number line.
5) Choose a VALUE for "X"
from each REGION on the number
line that was formed in STEP #4.
6) PLUG each value from STEP #5
into the expression to find the
Positive OR Negativeness of
each region.
7) The decisions made in STEP #6
will determine the final answer
as we refer back to the
original INEQUALITY SIGN.
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Fractional INEQUALITIES:
When the INEQUALITY involves a FRACTION,
the method for solving is almost identical to
the POLYNOMIAL type. There are just two things
to take NOTE of... (Between STEP #3 and STEP #4)
3A) A Fraction will EQUAL ZERO
when the TOP "NUMERATOR" is ZERO.
when the TOP "NUMERATOR" is ZERO.
These values need to be marked on the number line.
3B) When the BOTTOM equals ZERO
the FRACTION is UNDEFINED.
(The values of X that make the
the FRACTION is UNDEFINED.
(The values of X that make the
BOTTOM "DENOMINATOR" equal ZERO are
UNUSABLE values for X. These values need
to be marked on the number line.)
You can check your solution on the CALCULATOR
