# Is there an easy way to remember what '\<' and '\>' mean in maths?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-remember-what-and-mean-in-maths/672360>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 27, 2013, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-remember-what-and-mean-in-maths/672360 "2013-10-27T08:40:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Doctor\_Why\_Bother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19adc/32.png) [@Doctor\_Why\_Bother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Why_Bother)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-remember-what-and-mean-in-maths/672360/1 "2013-10-27T08:40:31Z")

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Okay, I fully concede upfront that this is a really, really dumb question. But, in my defence, I’m pretty dumb. Blame television.

Anyway, I’m always getting confused about what ‘\<’ and ‘\>’ mean in maths. I know one means ‘bigger than’ and the other means ‘smaller than’ but I keep getting them mixed up. Since I’m sick of googling each time I see them, I was wondering if there was a handy little trick to remembering which one was which.

Cheers.

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**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-remember-what-and-mean-in-maths/672360/2 "2013-10-27T08:45:34Z")

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The wide end always points towards the greater value, the narrow end towards the lesser value.

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**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-remember-what-and-mean-in-maths/672360/3 "2013-10-27T08:55:44Z")

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My maths teacher always told us it was a greedy mouth - trying to eat the bigger thing each time.

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**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-remember-what-and-mean-in-maths/672360/4 "2013-10-27T09:04:07Z")

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^Yup. I was taught that the ‘alligator’ eats the bigger number.

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**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-remember-what-and-mean-in-maths/672360/5 "2013-10-27T09:09:05Z")

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I never thought about it, but if I was explaining it to a kid, I’d say “_ **L** _ess than” points _ **L** _eft.

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**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-remember-what-and-mean-in-maths/672360/6 "2013-10-27T09:26:49Z")

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“Big end for the big number” is less arbitrary than trying to remember stuff about letters or alligators.

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-remember-what-and-mean-in-maths/672360/7 "2013-10-27T12:00:08Z")

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The ‘big end/small end’ thing is more than coincidence, isn’t it? I mean, the symbol is the shape it is because it’s describing a change in size, isn’t it?

ETA: I mean in the same way the volume labelling on [this](https://lh5.ggpht.com/KMRy2MKDYTklVcIkWa443HPXd_1i95ErEY52wOzCY5OL09l7sky8ra3ySN9RU0tn1FZP=w300)thing is supposed to be intuitive.

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**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-remember-what-and-mean-in-maths/672360/8 "2013-10-27T12:07:24Z")

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> [@Mangetout](#):
>
> The ‘big end/small end’ thing is more than coincidence, isn’t it? I mean, the symbol is the shape it is because it’s describing a change in size, isn’t it?

yeah, but its get confusing for some people, maybe because they are storing both \< and \> in the same bucket in their brain , and so they recall both when they see one or the other. (My grand mother , at a time after she had suffered a few strokes, and was getting frail and barely there, saw a picture of Angkor Wat and said “I know where that is, that is Canada!”… In her brain, Canada and Cambodia are stored in the bucket labelled “Countries starting with C and then A !” )  
So how about " L L L " … Little Left Less ! As long as you can remember LLL and your left and right… Little on the Left is Less THAN ! LLL !

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**Author:** ![Artemis\_Tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@Artemis\_Tardis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Artemis_Tardis)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-remember-what-and-mean-in-maths/672360/9 "2013-10-27T12:27:38Z")

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I always think of \< \> as a hungry crocodile (or its mouth…). As it is a hungry crocodile, its mouth will always face the biggest value.

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**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-remember-what-and-mean-in-maths/672360/10 "2013-10-27T12:43:17Z")

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Like **Mangetout** , I’ve always essentially seen as a representation of the process going from one thing to the other—for ‘\<’ it’s a process of growth, hence the small value is on the left, the bigger one on the right, while for ‘\>’ it’s a shrinking process.

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**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-remember-what-and-mean-in-maths/672360/11 "2013-10-27T12:44:26Z")

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This isn’t an easy way to remember, it’s a direct translation, but I just think of a line of numbers in reading order:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

And the \< arrow points to the lesser numbers for Less Than, and the \> arrow points to the greater numbers for Greater Than. It’s a very logical choice for symbols, in my mind.

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**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-remember-what-and-mean-in-maths/672360/12 "2013-10-27T12:59:03Z")

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Of course in musical notation, “\<” means crescendo, or \*increase \*volume, while “\>” is decrescendo, or \*decrease \*volume. This difference with music and math notation has confused me for years!  
😕

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**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-remember-what-and-mean-in-maths/672360/13 "2013-10-27T13:02:44Z")

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I’m interested that this is considered tricky by some - I always thought of it as inherently obvious: “Big end is big, small end is small”.

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**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-remember-what-and-mean-in-maths/672360/14 "2013-10-27T13:05:25Z")

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> [@Jake](#):
>
> Of course in musical notation, “\<” means crescendo, or \*increase \*volume, while “\>” is decrescendo, or \*decrease \*volume. This difference with music and math notation has confused me for years!  
> 😕

Because it is change over time. The big end (louder) to the left, becoming smaller (quieter) to the right describes de crescendo.

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**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-remember-what-and-mean-in-maths/672360/15 "2013-10-27T13:07:38Z")

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> [@Jake](#):
>
> in musical notation, “\<” means crescendo, or \*increase \*volume, while “\>” is decrescendo, or \*decrease \*volume.

Makes sense if you think of time passing as you move from left to right (the way most languages - and presumably most musical notations - are read). Thus, “\<” means “volume increasing with time”.

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**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-remember-what-and-mean-in-maths/672360/16 "2013-10-27T13:17:04Z")

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> [@Jake](#):
>
> Of course in musical notation, “\<” means crescendo, or \*increase \*volume, while “\>” is decrescendo, or \*decrease \*volume. This difference with music and math notation has confused me for years!  
> 😕

But that’s exactly the same usage: notes to the left of ‘\<’ are played on a smaller volume than notes to the right, i.e. going from left to right, the volume has increased—crescendo, while notes to the left of ‘\>’ are played at a larger volume than notes to the right, so that again going from left to right, the volume has decreased—decrescendo.

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**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-remember-what-and-mean-in-maths/672360/17 "2013-10-27T13:22:37Z")

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Another way to think of it is the number of “points” on each end. The \< symbol has one point on the left, and two on the right. One is less than two.

The \> symbol has two points on the left, and one on the right. Two is greater than one.

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**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-remember-what-and-mean-in-maths/672360/18 "2013-10-27T13:37:42Z")

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> [@Bill\_Door](#):
>
> The wide end always points towards the greater value, the narrow end towards the lesser value.

That’s what our 7th-grade math teacher taught us.

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**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-remember-what-and-mean-in-maths/672360/19 "2013-10-27T14:50:18Z")

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I was taught the crocodile mouth thing, the greedy crocodile mouth always wants the bigger meal.  
My brother was taught that it was a finger tip, and that it was always picking on the little guy.

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-remember-what-and-mean-in-maths/672360/20 "2013-10-27T16:14:00Z")

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> [@Xema](#):
>
> Makes sense if you think of time passing as you move from left to right (the way most languages - and presumably most musical notations - are read). Thus, “\<” means “volume increasing with time”.

In the case of the mathematical symbol, it reads the correct meaning in either direction - when you read “4 \> 3” from right to left, you get “3 \< 4” - assuming you interpret the symbol as one representing change across its width.

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