SOLUTION: The product of two consecutive numbers is 72. Find the two integers. a) 12 or -6 b) -12 or 6 c) 8 or -9 d) -8 or 9 I am baffled because I though that the product of two consec

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Question 256869: The product of two consecutive numbers is 72. Find the two integers.
a) 12 or -6
b) -12 or 6
c) 8 or -9
d) -8 or 9
I am baffled because I though that the product of two consecutive numbers would be negative if one of the numbers is negative? How can I come up with 72?
Answer by drk(1908) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Let x be the first number and x+1 be the second number. We get
x%28x%2B1%29+=+72
using distributive property, we get
x%5E2+%2B+x+=+72
set equation = 0 to get
x%5E2+%2B+x+-+72+=+0
factoring, we get
%28x%2B9%29%28x-8%29+=+0
x = -9
or
x = 8
so we have an answer is
(8,9)
or
(-9,-8)