document.write( "<A HREF=/cgi-bin/jump-to-question.mpl?question=970156>Question 970156</A>: <I><SPAN STYLE=\"word-break: break-all;\"> The mean of four consecutive even numbers is 15<BR>\n" );
document.write( "The greatest of these numbers is?<BR>\n" );
document.write( "The least of these numbers is? </SPAN>\n" );
document.write( "</I><HR><TABLE width=100%><TR><TD><B><A HREF=http://www.algebra.com/>Algebra.Com's</A> Answer #592806 by </B><A HREF=/tutors/aboutme.mpl?userid=josh_jordan><B>josh_jordan(263)</B></A><img src=\"/images/stars/stars-09.gif\" alt=\"\" >&nbsp;<A HREF=/tutors/aboutme.mpl?userid=josh_jordan><IMG SRC=http://www.algebra.com/images/aboutme-small.gif BORDER=0 alt=\"About Me\" VALIGN=MIDDLE></A>&nbsp;<IMG SRC=http://www.algebra.com/cgi-bin/show-face.mpl?user=josh_jordan><BR>You can <A HREF=\"/cgi-bin/embed-solution.mpl?show=1&solution=592806\">put this solution on YOUR website!</A><BR><SPAN STYLE=\"word-break: break-all;\"> To solve this, we need to set this word problem as a formula.  The question says that we have 4 consecutive even numbers that when we take the mean of these 4 numbers, we get 15.  So, let's rewrite this as follows:\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "Let's use x for the unknown numbers.  So, the first number would be x.  Now, the next consecutive even number would be 2 more than the first, so our second number would be written as x + 2.  Our third number would be 2 more than the second number, which can be written as x + 4.  Finally, our fourth number would be 2 more than the third number, which can be written as x + 6.  To summarize, we have the following to represent each number:\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "Number 1:  x<BR>\n" );
document.write( "Number 2:  x + 2<BR>\n" );
document.write( "Number 3:  x + 4<BR>\n" );
document.write( "Number 4:  x + 6\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "We also know that if we take the mean (the average) of those four numbers, our result will be 15.  To take the average of 4 numbers, we add the 4 numbers together and divide by 4.  So, our equation would like the following:\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "<IMG STYLE=\"max-width:80%;\" SRC=/cgi-bin/plot-formula.mpl?expression=%28x%2Bx%2B2%2Bx%2B4%2Bx%2B6%29%2F4=15 ALIGN=MIDDLE  ALT=\"%28x%2Bx%2B2%2Bx%2B4%2Bx%2B6%29%2F4=15\"   DISABLED_style= \"max-width:90%; height:auto;\" >\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "We now have an equation we can solve.  First, we can multiply both sides of the equation by 4 so that we can get rid of the fraction.  This results in:\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "x + x + 2 + x + 4 + x + 6 = 60\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "Next, combine like terms on the left side of the equal sign, giving us:\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "4x + 12 = 60\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "Then, subtract 12 from both sides, giving us:\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "4x = 48\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "Finally, divide both sides by 4, which will give us our value for x:\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "x = 12\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "So, we know that x is 12, which means that Number 1 is 12.  Our second number is 2 more than that, so our second number is 14.  Our third number is two more than the second number, which is 16.  Our final number is 2 more than the third number, which is 18.  We now have our four numbers in order from smallest to largest:  12  14  16  and 18\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "The greatest of these numbers is 18<BR>\n" );
document.write( "The least of these numbers is 12\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "To verify all of this, do the following:\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "<IMG STYLE=\"max-width:80%;\" SRC=/cgi-bin/plot-formula.mpl?expression=%2812%2B14%2B16%2B18%29%2F4 ALIGN=MIDDLE  ALT=\"%2812%2B14%2B16%2B18%29%2F4\"   DISABLED_style= \"max-width:90%; height:auto;\" >\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "This results in 15, so our answer is correct.  <BR>\n" );
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