Let the first number = x
The second number would be x + 1 ( this makes the two numbers consecutive).
Now you want the square of the first one to decrease by 17, so now you have x^2 -17.
Then you want that to equal 4 times the second number so you now have:
x^2 -17 = 4(*x+1)
Now we can solve for x:
x^2 -17 = 4x +4
Subtract 4x+4 from both sides:
x^2 - 4x -21 = 0
Factor:
(x-7) (x+3) = 0
Solve for the two x's:
x = 7 and x = -3
The problem states the numbers are positive, so -3 cannot be an answer, so we have X = 7
The first number is X , which is 7 and the second number is x +1 which is 7+1 = 8
The two numbers are 7 and 8.