The greater than symbol is used in mathematics to symbolize that one amount is greater than another. The symbol is >. An example would be five apples are a greater amount than 2 apples. If using the symbol it would simplify as five apples > 2 apples. It saves a lot of time to use the symbols. For other mathematical symbols made easy see http://www.mathsisfun.com/equal-less-greater.html.
