If you say "10 less than y". Does it mean 10-y or y-10. Which is correct and why?
y-10 becuase it means it is 10 fewer than the amount y
It means y - 10.
10 less than 50 is 40.
When you say "10 less than y," it means y - 10. The correct interpretation is to subtract 10 from y, which results in a smaller value than y. Here's how you can see this:
To determine the correct interpretation, let's use a simple example. Let's say y is equal to 15.
If we interpret "10 less than y" as y - 10, we get: 15 - 10 = 5.
If we interpret it as 10 - y, we get: 10 - 15 = -5.
Since we want a value that is "less than y," the correct interpretation is y - 10, which gives us 5 in this case. This aligns with the general meaning of "10 less than y" where we subtract 10 from the value of y.