Question

The sum of 3 numbers is 33. The second number is 2 more than the first number. The third number is 2 more than the second number. What is the smallest number?​

Answer 1

9

Explanation:

The information given can be written as:

• x + y + z = 33
• y = x + 2
• z = y + 2 = (x + 2) + 2 = x + 4

So, x + x + 2 + x + 4 = 33. This simplified is 3x + 6 = 33

Subtract 6 from both sides: 3x = 27

Divide both sides by 3: x = 9

This means that the numbers are 9, 11, and 13, so 9 is the smallest number.

To check, we can add together 9, 11 and 13, which is 33.

Hope this helps!