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Is it possible to place 158 books on three shelves so that the first shelf has 8 fewer books than the second and 5 more books than the third shelf?

plz halp

User Danieldms
by
8.2k points

2 Answers

4 votes

Answer:

it is NOT possible

Explanation:

User Sigmundur
by
8.4k points
5 votes

We are given 158 books to place them on three different shelves like A, B, and C.

It says that shelf A has eight fewer books than shelf B and five more books than shelf C.

Mathematically, it can be written as (A = B - 8) and (A = C + 5).

Or we can write it as (B = A + 8) and (C = A - 5).

If we consider there are 'x' books in shelf A, then shelf B would have 'x+8' books and shelf C would have 'x-5' books.

We know that Total books are 158, so its sum must be equal to total books.

A + B + C = 158

x + (x+8) + (x-5) = 158

3x + 3 = 158

3x + 3 - 3 = 158 - 3

3x = 155


(3x)/(3) =(155)/(3)

x = 51.667 books

But 'x' must be an integer value because number of books can not be a decimal form.

Hence, this arrangement is "NOT possible" for this question.

User SCGH
by
8.4k points
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