Greater Than Symbol
Greater than sign represents the inequality between two values. There are many inequality signs, and greater than a symbol is one of them. What idea do you get about inequality signs? Is it enough to know that it's the opposite of equality? Not at all. You need to know the details of how you can use in your equations and what is the primary difference is among all inequality symbols. Greater than a symbol is sometimes mixed with less than a symbol. Here in the article, we'll discuss the difference between them to know the obvious difference. In other words, when greater than symbol is placed between two values, then it is evident that the first value (integer or figure) is greater than the second one. I.e., inequality.
In the computer science subject, the greater than symbol has a wide range of usages and applications when it comes to programming languages.
The greater than sign and less than sign were used in 1860 by Thomas Harriot in the analytical arts applied for solving equations related to algebra.
What is meant by greater than symbol, and what is the meaning in mathematics?
Having discussed the meaning of this symbol, let's explore what is its actual meaning in mathematics with an example.
When you're confused with two values to compare them and present the written form that shows which value is greater and which is smaller, you can use the greater than symbol in order to show the bigger value and smaller value.
Example 1: 12 + 2b > 3c + 4c
Apparently, it's very difficult to determine the exact value of the expression written on the left side and the value of the expression written on the right side. Sometimes, there have been asked such questions in exams where you need to tell either this inequality sign is placed right or wrong.
Example 2: 15 > 13
It depicts that the 15 is greater than 13, and the value of 15 is greater than the value of 13. It's very important to know that the 15 and 13 are just figures in mathematics, and the value has been assigned behind these no's.
How can you use greater than symbol?
As we previously discussed its meaning along with its history, now it needs to jump into the "How exactly can you use greater than symbol?'
Suppose you're going to compare the two expressions so that you need to find out which expression is greater in value or to represent which is a greater expression which we already know. In that case, you can put this sign between them.
For example, 13 + 48a > 15 - 2b
Here, in this expression the order to show the bigger value of left-sided expression you need to put the greater than symbol as an inequality purpose. This is how you can use greater than symbol.
In simple words, You can use greater than signs in mathematics to show the clear difference in the values of different integers or figures. What you need to do is just to put down that symbol.
How do you remember the greater than and the less than values while putting the sign in both of them?
Here, you may come up with a query that you often fail to recognize what side is greater than the other while putting the greater than sign. Here is a quick and simple solution that you can follow to compare the values to resolve your query.
Alligator method is the best method by which you can find out which expression has a greater value than the other.
The alligator mouth is open to which side is the large value. It's the easy and clear-cut thing to consider when you're going to compare the values. Let's explain with an example.
E.g. 17 + 15 > 14
This clearly states that the 17 + 15 is greater as the alligator mouth is open to their side. Alligator mouth is open where he can prey to eat his fill. So, we need to keep that concept in mind to resolve your query that most people may come up with.
How to type greater than sign?
Type Greater Than Symbol on Windows
Typing this sign on PC Windows is relatively easy. The greater than symbol is already available on the keyboard, making it easy to type on PC windows. Press the SHIFT key and tab the greater than sign key at the same time. The greater-than sign will appear on the screen then. The second way, hold the ALT key and typing 62. This is also can be obtained greanter than sign.
Type Greater Than Symbol on Mac
- Press the SHIFT as a first step
- Tabb on the greater than key, which is on the right side of the shift.
- Keep pressing the shift and tab that key for once.
- The greater than sign instantly appear on the screen.
Type Greater Than Symbol on IPhone
First of all, open keyboard, Press "?123" button on the down-left corner. Then press "#+=" button in the lower left corner, the greater than symbols is in the middle of that keyboard layout.
Type Greater Than Symbol on Android
First of all, open the android keyboard, go to the "?123" button, and press it. Once you're done with pressing this button, you'll land with multiple keys and mathematical signs, then press "=\<" button. On next keyboard, find out the ">" sign and consider pressing it in order to type on the android screen what you get the typed greater than symbol on your screen.
Type Greater Than Symbol in Word/ Excel/ PowerPoint
Although you can copy this symbol from another source and paste it on your Word/ Excel/ PowerPoint yet you can follow the process given below to type it on your screen while using doc.
- Consider inserting this symbol from the Insert menu.
- After pressing the button, click symbols on the top-right corner.
- Once you find that symbol in Basic Latin, click insert.
- You can then type greater than sign in doc.
Codes of greater than sign
| Unicode | U+003E | |
|---|---|---|
| Alt Code | Alt 62 | |
| ASCII Code | 62 | |
| Hex Code | > | |
| HTML Code | > | |
| CSS Code | \003E | |
| HTML Entity | > |
What is the difference between >, <, >> and ≥
There's often confusion between these signs when you try to use them. If these are written as per the exact purpose, the reader misunderstands them and mixes them. In order to understand the clear difference where these signs are used, here's a quick view you can get an idea from.
Greater Than (>)
This is a greater than sign which is used to compare the values and tell the clear difference in values when it comes to using this sign. It is a sign of inequality. You can represent the value difference in figures and expressions. In simple words, it gives the meaning of unequal values stating the large value on the left side. It states the apparent difference between the expressions. E.g., 12 + 3h > 14 + 3d (left side is greater as per alligator method)
Less Than (<)
This is the less than sign which also one of the inequality signs. It shows that the left-sided value of the expression is smaller than the right-sided one as per the alligator method (the open side is on the right side). It serves the same purpose as that of greater than symbol, but the direction is changed with converting of small value into large. For example, 12 + 3h < 14 + 3d (right side is greater as alligator method)
Double Greater Than (>>)
Before going into detail, let's take an example for better understanding. e.g. 12444444444 >> 124444 The above example states that the left-sided figures have much higher values than the right-sided ones. When greater than sign is used two times, it means sufficiently larger values than the others. Although it serves the same purpose as that of > when two times this sign is used, it means intensity in values, i.e., larger value.
Greater Than Equal To (≥)
Greater than equal to sign is used to depict the two possibilities as follows:
- Right-sided value is a large one.
- Right-sided value and left-sided value are equal.
Don't get it? Well, let's explain it with an example 12 ≥ 11.9999 It represents that either value of 12 is larger than the value of 11.9999, or both have equal values. In contrast, in greater than symbol, the right-sided value is only greater than the right side one. No other option prevails.
Conclusion
Greater than sign is used to indicate the difference between two values as this sign shows the inequality. The alligator method is the recommended one to recognize whether it is greater than symbol or not. You can type this sign on PC, Android, IPhone and PowerPoint, etc. there are different codes for greater than sign for programming languages in order to work correctly with ease.
There is a basic difference between all inequality signs but the one thing that is common that all these signs show inequality among expressions. It has a wide range of applications in mathematics and computer languages as well.