Answer:
Explanation:
If 24, x and 18 are in proportion, then we have:
24 : x = x : 18
This can be rewritten as:
x^2 = 24 x 18
x^2 = 432
Taking the square root of both sides, we get:
x = ± 20.7846
However, we also know that (x - 1) is in proportion with 24 and 18. Therefore:
24 : (x - 1) = (x - 1) : 18
This can be rewritten as:
(x - 1)^2 = 24 x 18
(x - 1)^2 = 432
Taking the square root of both sides, we get:
x - 1 = ± 20.7846
Solving for x in each case, we get:
x = 21.7846 or x = -19.7846
However, we can see that the value x = -19.7846 does not make sense in the context of the problem (since we cannot have a negative value for the number of something). Therefore, we can reject it as an extraneous solution.
Hence, the value of x is:
x = 21.7846
Answer: 21.7846