Question

a school rule states that students must not have more than 3 unexcused absences per semester. which inequality represents this rule?
a. $a > 3$
b. $a < 3$
c. $a \leq 3$
d. $a \geq 3$

Explanation:

Step1: Understand the problem

Let \(a\) represent the number of unexcused absences. The rule says students must not have more than 3 unexcused absences. "Not more than" means the number of absences can be equal to 3 or less than 3.

Step2: Translate to inequality

Mathematically, this is written as \(a\leq3\), because \(a\) (the number of absences) is less than or equal to 3.

Answer:

c. \(a \leq 3\)