Random memory

Wednesday, 26 July 2006 17:58
pne: A picture of a plush toy, halfway between a duck and a platypus, with a green body and a yellow bill and feet. (Default)
[personal profile] pne

I remember learning about "less than" and "greater than" in maths years and years ago… and the teacher teaching us a mnemonic to remember which symbol meant which.

He told us to imagine the symbol as the jaws of a crocodile, eager to snap up the bigger (and fatter) number—so < means "less than" since the jaws are open to the right, meaning the number on the right must be bigger, and conversely for > and "greater than" (the number on the left is bigger and so the crocodile wants to eat that one).

Date: Wednesday, 26 July 2006 18:07 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mendel.livejournal.com
I was taught that too. Why is it always a crocodile, never an alligator?

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pne: A picture of a plush toy, halfway between a duck and a platypus, with a green body and a yellow bill and feet. (Default)
Philip Newton

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