Question

Juan had $125. He spent more than $60 at the carnival. Write an inequality to show the amount he has left.

Answer 1

I find it easier to come at this indirectly. First let's write an equation for the amount Juan has left. Then we can solve that for the amount he spent. Finally, we can write the desired inequality.

(amount Juan spent) + (amount Juan has left) = $125
Subtracting the amount Juan has left, we get
(amount Juan spent) = $125 - (amount Juan has left)
The problem statement tells us a comparison between the amount Juan spent and $60, so we can write ...
(amount Juan spent) > $60
Substituting the above expression, this becomes
$125 - (amount Juan has left) > $60

Adding the quantity (amount Juan has left) -$60 makes this into
$125 -$60 > (amount Juan has left)

Simplifying, this is
(amount Juan has left) < $65