Question

Find three consecutive positive integers such that the product of the 1st and second is equal to 20

Answer 1

Let x be the first positive integer.

Then the second and third positive integers are x+1 and x+2 respectively.

According to the given statement,

x(x+1) = 20

Expanding the left-hand side, we get

x^2 + x = 20

Rearranging the terms, we get a quadratic equation in x:

x^2 + x - 20 = 0

Factoring the quadratic equation,

(x+5)(x-4) = 0

Therefore, the solutions for x are x=-5 and x=4. Since we need to find positive integers, the only valid solution is x=4.

Therefore, the three consecutive positive integers are 4, 5, and 6.