Less Than Equal To Symbol
The less than equal sign is very important in our day-to-day activities in addition to being vital in mathematics and related disciplines.
An example of the daily use of the less than equal to symbol and concept could be that suppose a worker is working in the industry. In his contract, he was told that he can be paid a maximum of 2500 rupees per day. The maximum here brings the less than equal to the concept in play by suggesting that he can either be paid less than 2500 rupees per day or he can also be paid 2500 rupees per day depending on his performance and the workload that day.
This means the workers in the industry can be paid ≤ 2500 rupees per day.
What does the less than equal to sign mean in mathematics?
Like many other symbols, the less than equal to sign in mathematics belongs to the symbols of the inequalities category. The mathematical meaning when this sign is used between two values is that the value on the left side of the less than equal to sign is either less than the value on the right side of the sign or it is equal to the value on the right side. Both can be possible when we are using the less than or equal to sign between two numbers or variables.
For example: 25x ≤ 25y
The above equation can mean two things. One can be that 25x as a whole variable is less than 25y. This can be possible if the value of x is less than the value of y. The less than equal to sign also means that 25x can be equal to 25y. This is possible when the values of both x and y are equal to each other. When we have used the less than or equal to sign ≤ that means that we have represented both the above-mentioned situations by using one symbol only.
How to use the less than equal to sign?
Now that we know what the less than equal to sign looks like, what it means when there is a greater than equal to sign between two values, and what is the mathematical significance of this sign, we should move on to knowing which situations can this less than equal to sign be used in.
A situation in which we set the maximum limit for anything. Suppose if we say that an employer hires someone and tells him that the maximum we pay our delivery guys is 15,000 rupees per month. What the employer means by using the word maximum is that they cannot pay their delivery guys more than 15,000 rupees a month which automatically means that their monthly wage can be either 15,000 rupees or less than 15,000 rupees. So this entire situation can be summed up as
The employer pays his workers ≤ 15,000 rupees per month.
Another situation when the less than equal sign can come to play is algebraic equations. We can use it between two variables indicating that the first variable, which is stated before the less than equal to sign is either smaller than or equal to the second variable, which is used after the less than equal to symbol.
If an algebraic equation goes like 2x + 4y ≤ 3a + 6b
This complex equation can simply mean two things, either that the sum of 2x and 4y is less than the sum of 3a and 6b or the sum of the former is equal to the sum of the latter. This depends upon the values of the four variables used in this specific equation i.e. x, y, 'a', and b.
Another condition in which the less than equal sign can be used is if we wish to set a limit for something between two values. This means that if we want to consider all the values between two values inclusive of the two limiting values, we can use the greater than or equal to sign.
The above equation means that the value of the variable x lies between 2 and -6. This means that the value can either be any number that falls between 2 and -6 or it can also be 2 or -6 itself.
How to type the less than equal to symbol?
Type Less Than Equal To Sign on Windows
- Press the Num Lock key so that it stops functioning as a cursor pad, then hold down the ALT key and then type 41436 on the Num pad and then release the alt key.
- Open Num Lock, press 2264 then type ALT + x button at the same time.
- Using the ALT + 8804 short key.
Type Less Than Equal To Sign on Mac
On Mac, the less than equal to ≤ character can be achieved by pressing option, comma, and the ≤ by pressing option period. It can also be achieved by "option + ,".
Type Less Than Equal To Sign in Word/Excel
The Microsoft office has been used as a collective term for Microsoft word, excel, and PowerPoint because all of these applications have the same way to insert the symbol of concern for us right now that is less than equal to the symbol ≤.
- Go to the insert tab from the taskbar at the top of your page.
- Click on symbols from the right side of the toolbar.
- For that click "More symbols" from the very bottom of the drop-down menu.
- Choose mathematical operations in the subset box. This is where you will find the less than equal sign if you look closely.
Codes of less than equal symbol
| Unicode | U+2264 | |
|---|---|---|
| Alt Code | Alt 8804 | |
| Hex Code | ≤ | |
| HTML Code | ≤ | |
| CSS Code | \2264 | |
| HTML Entity | ≤ |