SOLUTION: I need to know why this equation was written the way it is The sum of three consecutive numbers is 138. what is the greatest number 52 50 48 46 44 On the answer sheet they sa

Question 202812: I need to know why this equation was written the way it is
The sum of three consecutive numbers is 138.
what is the greatest number 52 50 48 46 44
On the answer sheet they say this let x,(x+2)+(x+4)=138
I know what the answer is it's 48 But how did they determine that the equation
should be written using the numbers 2 and 4 what process determined that.
Answer by jim_thompson5910(35256) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Are you sure that the problem isn't "The sum of three consecutive even numbers is 138" ??? That's the only way that the answer sheet would be correct.

So let's assume that this is the case.

Consecutive even integers follow the pattern: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, etc...

In other words, they are the set of even integers in which the next number in the sequence is simply the next even integer.

Take note that all we're doing to each term is adding 2 to get the next term. In other words, 2+2=4, 4+2=6, 6+2=8, 8+2=10, 10+2=12, etc...

So for ANY unknown term "x", the next term is "x+2" and the term after that is "x+4" (since (x+2)+2=x+2+2=x+4)

So this is why the statement "The sum of three consecutive even numbers is 138" translates to

Let me know if you need help solving this equation.
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