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One positive integer is 6 less than twice another. The sum of their squares is 680 . Find the integers.

2 Answers

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Final answer:

To find the two integers, we set one as x and the other as y = 2x - 6. We formed a quadratic equation from the condition that the sum of their squares is 680 and solved it to find the values of x and y.

Step-by-step explanation:

Let's denote the smaller integer as x and the larger integer as y. According to the problem, one positive integer is 6 less than twice another, which translates to the equation y = 2x - 6. The sum of their squares is given as 680, so we write that as x^2 + y^2 = 680.

Substituting the expression for y from the first equation into the second, we get x^2 + (2x - 6)^2 = 680. Expanding this, we arrive at an equation in one variable: x^2 + 4x^2 - 24x + 36 = 680, which simplifies to 5x^2 - 24x - 644 = 0. This is a quadratic equation that can be factored or solved using the quadratic formula.

Factoring, we find the roots of the quadratic equation which will give us the value for x, and subsequently we can find y using the first equation. By solving, we determine that the integers that satisfy the given conditions are x and y.

User Nyambaa
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Let's call the two numbers x and y. The first sentence, one is 6 less than twice another, translates to


x = 2y-6

We also know the sum of their squares:


x^2+y^2 = 680

So, we have the following system:


\begin{cases} x = 2y-6 \\ x^2+y^2 = 680 \end{cases}

We can use the expression for x in terms of y from the first equation to turn the second equation into something involving y alone:


x^2+y^2 = 680 \to (2y-6)^2+y^2 = 680

Expand the square:


5y^2-24y+36 = 680

Subtract 680 from both sides:


5y^2-24y-644 = 0

Using the quadratic equation


y_(1,2) = \cfrac{-b\pm√(b^2-4ac)}{2a}

we find the two solutions


y_1 = -\cfrac{46}{5},\quad y_2 = 14

Since we know that both numbers are integer we can only accept the second solution. It yields the following x value:


x = 2x-6\ \land\ y = 14 \implies x = 2\cdot 14 - 6 = 28-6=22


User Jochen Holzer
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