SOLUTION: I am working on a problem in algebra. The question is: A student opens a literature book to two facing pages. The product of the page numbers is 812. Find the page numbers. I w

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Question 161771: I am working on a problem in algebra. The question is: A student opens a literature book to two facing pages. The product of the page numbers is 812. Find the page numbers.
I would like to do this problem on my own, but I can't figure out the formula to do it. I have never taken algebra until now and it is driving me nuts. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Answer by scott8148(6628) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
here we go with the letter thing...

if x is the number on the 1st page, then the number on the 2nd page is x+1

the product is x^2+x __ this equals 812 __ x^2+x=812

you are looking for two factors of 812 that are one number different
__ the square root of 812 (on a calculator) is 28.5 (approx)

so 28 and 29 are good bets