The symbol "<" without quotes means "less than". The number on the left is less than or smaller than the number on the right. Think of an alligator mouth representing this symbol. The mouth will face the larger amount because the alligator is greedy and wants the most food.
Another example: 5 < 8 which says "5 is less than 8" or "5 is smaller than 8". Going back to the alligator example, the alligator will want 8 pieces of food rather than 5 since it's greedy.
