I know that < is the "less than" symbol, and > is the symbol for "greater than," but I'm constantly forgetting that. What is an easy and foolproof way to remember the difference? Any suggestions?

The alligator's mouth is ready to eat the greater value. That is what they taught us in elementary school.
+5

Simple association:

If it points LEFT, it's LESS THAN.

LEFT and LESS start with the same letters.

That means the other one must be "reater than", by elimination.

"I have always had difficulty with directionality in mathematics. When I was in elementary school, I did not understand that < and > were two different signs; I was as likely to read

5 > 2

as "two is less than five" as I was to read "five is greater than two". I remember multiple choice questions:


The symbol > means:
a) less than
b) greater than
c) equal to
And I would have no clue how to answer the question (other than the fact that choice C was obviously wrong). That symbol, > , meant both 'greater than' and 'less than' to me. I had no problem doing the actual math; I could put the right symbol in the math problems, correctly identifying 80,835 as bigger than 35,808. However, the multiple choice question shown above (or directions that required me to "write the 'greater than' sign") floored me. FINALLY, someone taught me to read math from left to right. I wish I knew who had set me straight, so I could thank that person."
Source and further information:
http://everything2.com/title/Please+Excuse+My+Dear+Aunt+Sally

Lots of good ideas here. I don't think of the symbol as an arrow, but as a comparison itself--a glyph with one BIG side and one LITTLE side. Naturally, the big side is on the side of the greater value and the little point is on the side of the lesser value.

The pointed end of the indicator symbol indicates the lesser of two values.

I was taught to see the < as an alligator's mouth. The alligator will always eat the larger meal, therefore, whichever one he's eating is the largest.

We read from left to right. When we see > we see the greater side first. When we see < we see the smaller side first.

₪ ɦəlʞɹɐq ₪

I was told there is little on the left < but lots on the right > to rememeber less than and greater than but I don't use it.

In 4th grade my teacher taught us this song to help us remember (warning: this song is corny):

the little guy eats the big guy
the big guy runs away
both of them are not equal
there ain't much more to say

...I can't believe I just wrote that.

In school, I would pretend it was a mouth wanting the bigger piece.

The less than symbol points to the left and begins with L.

Skinny bit first is less<. Fat bit first is greater>.

< The symbol left side height is LESS THAN the right side.
> The symbol left side height is GREATER THAN the right side.

Look at the slope on the top of the symbol and think of it as a line on a graph. That will tell you which is the greater side of the expression.

As the big bully point his finger at his smaller victim so the < and > both point towards the smallest value.

regards JakobA

think of the < as three dots connected by two lines - the one dot on the left is obviously less than the two dots on the right, any thing on the lesser side is lesser than...... gee this concept is hard to convey in text! Works for me though!

Think of the arrow as a diaphragm being pushed one way or the other. If A < B there is more 'stuff' on B's side, pushing the arrow toward the A. So there's less on the A side.

One mnemonic would be that the lesser value is the one that's being pointed at.

Another one could be that the lesser value is the one closest to the lesser width (i.e., the point) of the arrow.

< this way is to the left (less). The other is naturally greater.

To the Left means Less.