Suppose the lengths of the lengths of two strings are 10 centimeters and 17 centimeters. Describe how the lengths of these two strings compare.
Let's just say that the string that is 10 cm long is string A and the string that is 17 cm long is string B. Because 10 < 17, string A is shorter than string B. Conversely, because 17 > 10, string B is longer than string A.
-- The lengths of the two strings are not equal.
They are different.
-- The 10-centimeter string is shorter than the 17-centimeter one.
-- The 17-centimeter string is longer than the 10-centimeter one.
(I'll bet you knew all of those things, but you were
afraid to say them because it's math and everybody
thinks that math is hard. Am I right ?)