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One number is 3 greater than another. The product of the numbers is 40. Find the numbers

User Bennie
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1 Answer

5 votes

Answer:

5 and 8

Explanation:

One number is 3 greater than another. The product of the numbers is 40. Find the numbers

Let's call the smaller number "x". Then we know that the larger number is 3 more than x, so we can call it "x+3". We also know that the product of the two numbers is 40, so:

x(x+3) = 40

Expanding the left side of the equation, we get:

x^2 + 3x = 40

Subtracting 40 from both sides, we get:

x^2 + 3x - 40 = 0

Now we can use the quadratic formula to solve for x:

x = (-b ± sqrt(b^2 - 4ac)) / 2a

Where a = 1, b = 3, and c = -40. Plugging these values in, we get:

x = (-3 ± sqrt(3^2 - 4(1)(-40))) / 2(1)

x = (-3 ± sqrt(169)) / 2

So x is either:

x = (-3 + 13) / 2 = 5

or

x = (-3 - 13) / 2 = -8

We can check these values by verifying that x+3 is indeed 3 more than x, and that their product is indeed 40. We see that only the first solution, x=5, satisfies these conditions:

The two numbers are 5 and 8.

User Jaskaran Singh
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