Question

Translate the sentence into an inequality. Twice the difference of a number and 8 is at least 26 . Use the variable w for the unknown number.

Answer 1

"At least" refers to greater than or equal to (≥).
This is because "at least" means:
- it can't be less than
- it can be equal to
- it can be greater than
This is basically like saying no less than.
If you must have at least 10 oranges for some recipe, then you must have 10 oranges, but you can also have more.

"Twice the difference of a number and 8"
This means that 2 times a number minus 8.
This can be written as 2(w - 8), since w is unknown and it's the difference between w and 8.
The 2 is being multiplied by this because it's 2 times this difference.

"At least 26"
This means ≥ 26.

Now for the actual inequality.
"Twice the difference of a number and 8"
translates to 2(w - 8)
"is at least 26"
translates to ≥ 26
Now put them together.
2(w - 8) ≥ 26

So the answer is 2(w - 8) ≥ 26.

Hope this helps! :)