Question

A book is opened to a page at random. The product of the facing page numbers is 9312. What is the sum of the facing page numbers?

Answer 1

193

Explanation:

Let's "cheat" a little on this one

We know that the numbers are consecutive

so lets take the square root of 9312 to get close

√9312 = 96.4987046545

Consecutive numbers around 96.4987046545

96 * 97 = 9312

96 + 97 = 193

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The "correct" method would be to set up an equation

x(x + 1) = 9312

x² + x = 9312

x² + x - 9312 = 0

Then use the quadratic equation to solve for x

Which you can do if you're so inclined.

Me, I'm happy to have "cheated"