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In this lesson you will use more than, less than and equal to symbols to compare numbers up to 1000.

Comparing numbers

We can compare amounts using these mathematical symbols.

Greater than and less than are known as inequalities.

= is known as an equality and means equal to or the same as.

Example 1

Jess and JJ each have a jar of sweets.

Can you compare how many sweets they have?

Jess has 234 sweets in her jar and JJ has 175.

Complete the statement below using the symbols >, < or =:

234 ____ 175

Let's compare these numbers using a place value table.

We can see straight away in the first column that 234 has more hundreds than 175 so without looking at the other columns we know:

234 >175

Example 2

Complete the statement below using the symbols >, < or =:

301 ____ 365

In this example the hundreds are the same so we take a look at the tens next.

301 has less tens than 365 so we can say:

301 < 365

Practise

Activity 1

Practise what you have learned with this quiz.

Play

Play Guardians: Defenders of Mathematica to learn more and sharpen your skills on this topic.

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