Inequalities can be used to describe a range of numbers. For example, in many places, people are eligible to get a driver’s license when they are at least 16 years old. If $h$ is the age of a person, then we can check if they are eligible to get a driver’s license by checking if their age makes the inequality $h>16$ (they are older than 16) or the equation $h=16$ (they are 16) true. The symbol $\geq$, pronounced “greater than or equal to,” combines these two cases and we can just check if $h \geq 16$ (their age is greater than or equal to 16).

The inequality $h \geq 16$ can be represented on a number line. The closed, or filled in, circle at 16 shows that 16 is a solution. The shading and arrow pointing right from 16 shows that all numbers greater than 16 are also solutions.