times both sides by 5 40-2x<5x-30 add 2x both sides 40<7x-30 add 30 to both sides 70<7x divide both sides by 7 10<x x>10 so x is any number bigger than 10 (notice we have x>10 not x≥10, if it was x≥10 then x=10 would be a solution) x>10 means x is more than 10 not including 10