... I was asked to solve 6t≤7t-8 or 2−2t>20 seperately. ...
I did word the question exactly as my book did. I've read the guidelines before, thanks. The question is asking for one interval that satisfies both inequalities, just to clear things up.
Let me explain why it is correct to say that you did
not quote the problem exactly, and why it matters.
You gave only an "indirect quotation", making it a clause within your own sentence, rather than standing alone, suggesting that you may have paraphrased. In fact, you added the word "separately", which changes the meaning, implying that they want two separate solutions. Possibly you meant that in the instructions you were told to solve each part separately, and then combine them to make one answer. But what you wrote opened up the possibility that the problem did not say, literally, "
Solve 6t≤7t-8 or 2−2t>20", as I assumed. That is what we mean by quoting
exactly; we like to see the
exact words used, and nothing else, to be sure we are interpreting it correctly, and don't have to make assumptions.
But now you say "one interval that satisfies both inequalities", which confuses things even more! If the question was as I assumed, then they would not want values that satisfy
both inequalities; that would be the intersection of the solution sets, not the union. Also, as I explained, the solution is
not a single interval!
Wording is very important here; students often confuse "and" and "or" in this way. I am again guessing that what you meant to say is that the question asks for a single solution for the compound inequality (that is, for the combination using "or"). Quoting word for word saves us the trouble of wondering if we are reading too much or too little into what you write.
I am emphasizing this not because you have done something terrible, but because others reading this may benefit from having the issue stated clearly.