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1 vote
An integer minus 5 times its reciprocal is
76
9
What is the integer?

User Laurent T
by
3.5k points

1 Answer

5 votes

Answer: The only one of these that's an integer is 9.

Explanation: Let X be the integer. Then

X - 3/X = 26/3. Multiplying by 3X on both sides:

3X^2 - 9 = 26X

3X^2 - 26X - 9 = 0

X = (26 +/- SQRT(26^2-(4*(-27))))/6 = (26 +/- 28) / 6,

so the two solutions for X are 1/3 and 54/6 = 9.
User Miquel
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