Why is pdflatex not recognizing my > symbol?

Question

I have a > symbol in my LateX file. Specifically, I have the sentence:

Say I have n > 1 apples.

When compile my .tex document using pdflatex, I get a pdf with an upside-down question mark in place of the > symbol.

I checked this math guide for TeX and saw no special markup for >. ftp://ftp.ams.org/pub/tex/doc/amsmath/short-math-guide.pdf

What is going on?

Answer 1

Related question: Less than symbol (<) appears as upside down “!”

Short answers:

• Use the fontenc package.
• Use math mode.
• Use the textcomp package.

This specific example should really be in math mode, since n is a variable. But for completeness:

\documentclass{article}
% comment out to see inverted question mark in place of > in ``Regular'' entry.
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{textcomp}
\begin{document}
\begin{itemize}
\item Say I have n > 1 apples (regular, with or without fontenc package).
\item Say I have \( n > 1 \) apples (math mode).
\item Say I have n \textgreater{} 1 apples (textcomp).
\end{itemize}
\end{document}

Also, the math mode greater-than sign is a bit heavier than the text symbols.