Question

Choose the inequality that illustrates this problem. After serving 45 pounds of poultry, a caterer had more than 10 pounds left. How many pounds of poultry did the caterer have originally? Let p = pounds of poultry the caterer had originally.

Answer 1

P=55 of pound left caterer

Answer 2

If $p$ represents the pounds of poultry the caterer had originally, then serving 45 pounds from that amount would be subtracting it from the original amount, leaving them with $p-45$ pounds of poultry. We're told that this new weight is more than, or greater than, 10 pounds. The > sign captures that fact nicely. Our inequality then becomes:

$p-45\ \textgreater \ 10$

Which means "p pounds of poultry, minus 45 pounds, is heavier than 10 pounds."

Edit: Solving that inequality by adding 45 to both sides, we find that

$p \ \textgreater \ 55$

Which means that the caterer started with more than 55 pounds of poultry.