<PRE><B>Question 1048781</B>
let x be the smallest number.
let x + 3 be the middle number.
let x + 6 be the largest number.


your equation is:


5 * (x + 6) = 3 * x + 5 * (x + 3)


this equation says that 5 times the largest number is equal to 3 times the smallest number plus 5 times the middle number.


simplify the equation to get 5x + 30 = 3x + 5x + 15


combine like terms to get 5x + 30 = 8x + 15


subtract 15 from both sides of the equation and subtract 5x from both sides of the equation to get 30 - 15 = 8x - 5x


combine like terms to get 15 = 3x


solve for x to get x = 5


when x = 5, x + 3 = 8, and x + 6 = 11


the difference between each succeeding number is 3.


5 * 11 = 55


3 * 5 + 5 * 8 = 15 + 40 = 55


solution looks good.


the smallest number is 5.
the middle number is 8.
the largest number is 11.
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