Answer: Hello!
ni this problem i consider that the notation 21 1/2 is equivalent to 21 + 1/2 = 21.5
our phrase is:
"The difference between a number and 21 1/2 is no more than 14 1/4"
we can break it into two parts to make it easier.
"The difference between a number and 21 1/2"
this is a subtraction, here you are subtracting 21 1/2 to a number, let's call this number x, then we can write this as:
x - 21 + 1/2
or x - 21.5
the second part says: "is no more than 14 1/4"
then the thing that we got before, is less or equal than 14 1/4 (or 14.25), this is
x - 21.5 ≤ 14.25
now you can add the same number in both sides of the inequality and it remains the same, then you can add 21.5 to both sides and:
x - 21.5 + 21.5 ≤ 14.25 + 21.5
x ≤ 35.75