Inequality without Solution

Its a bit unclear problem but still it has a reasonable solution we can write the inequality as x < (a+9)/(16 -b) hence b=16 is the point at which the fraction becomes undefined. also if a= -9, the inequality becomes 16 x < b x which implies b >16. but b=16 hence the answer is 16-9=7

We can write the inequality as: $(16-b)x < a+9$ Now we see that $16-b = 0$ because if $|(16-b)(x+1)| > |(16-b)x|$ , there's no limit for the value of the first member of the inequality and $a$ cannot be determined. Hence, $b = 16, a+9=0 \rightarrow a=-9$