Solve 4x - 5 > 4x - 9

Step by step

The question

Question: solve 4x − 5 > 4x − 9.

This is an inequality.

The sign means greater than.

1 Get x on one side

There is x on both sides.

We want x on one side only.

So we remove the 4x from the right side.

To remove 4x, we take away 4x.

We do it on both sides.

Why both sides?

The sign compares the two sides.

If we change only one side, the answer can change.

4x and − 4x make zero.

Cross them out.

4x − 4x = 0.

Now we have −5 > −9.

The x parts are gone.

−5 > −9 is always true.

So every number works!