SOLUTION: find three numbers in geometric progression whose sum is 19 and product is 216.

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Question 773286: find three numbers in geometric progression whose sum is 19 and product is 216.
Answer by ramkikk66(644) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
find three numbers in geometric progression whose sum is 19 and product is 216.
Ans:
Let the middle term be x and the common ratio be r. Then the 1st and 3rd terms are
x/r and x*r respectively.
Product = (x/r)*x*r*x = x^3 = 216.
So middle term x = 6.
Then the sum of the 3 terms = 6/r + 6 + 6*r = 19.
6%2Fr+%2B+6%2Ar+-+13+=+0
Multiplying by r
6%2Ar%5E2+-+13%2Ar+%2B+6+=+0 This is a standard quadratic equation which can be
solved using the quadratic solver, as shown below.
The 2 roots are r = 2/3 and r = 3/2.
Hence the other 2 terms of the GP are (6*2/3) and (6/(2/3) = 4 and 9.
The 3 numbers are 4,6 and 9 (or 9,6 and 4).
Hope you got it :)
Solution using quadratic solver: 
Solved by pluggable solver: SOLVE quadratic equation with variable
Quadratic equation ax%5E2%2Bbx%2Bc=0 (in our case 6x%5E2%2B-13x%2B6+=+0) has the following solutons: x%5B12%5D+=+%28b%2B-sqrt%28+b%5E2-4ac+%29%29%2F2%5Ca For these solutions to exist, the discriminant b%5E2-4ac should not be a negative number. First, we need to compute the discriminant b%5E2-4ac: b%5E2-4ac=%28-13%29%5E2-4%2A6%2A6=25. Discriminant d=25 is greater than zero. That means that there are two solutions: +x%5B12%5D+=+%28--13%2B-sqrt%28+25+%29%29%2F2%5Ca. x%5B1%5D+=+%28-%28-13%29%2Bsqrt%28+25+%29%29%2F2%5C6+=+1.5 x%5B2%5D+=+%28-%28-13%29-sqrt%28+25+%29%29%2F2%5C6+=+0.666666666666667 Quadratic expression 6x%5E2%2B-13x%2B6 can be factored: 6x%5E2%2B-13x%2B6+=+6%28x-1.5%29%2A%28x-0.666666666666667%29 Again, the answer is: 1.5, 0.666666666666667. Here's your graph: graph%28+500%2C+500%2C+-10%2C+10%2C+-20%2C+20%2C+6%2Ax%5E2%2B-13%2Ax%2B6+%29