Answer :

Say you are selling movie tickets. You have 17 but only sell b.  How many tickets do you still need to sell?  Hope this helps
AL2006
The gas tank in my car holds exactly 17 gallons, not a drop more.

On the day when I got my allowance, I drove into a gas station, with some
gas left in the tank and the engine running fine, and filled up the tank.

'b' is the number of gallons I added to it in order to fill it up.

b < 17