Question

The sum of three co secutive numbers is 72 what are the smallest of these numbers

Answer 1

Step-by-step explanation:

The question above is answered below.

Consecutive numbers are set of numbers that follow one another in ascending or descending order, e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5....

The sum of three consecutive numbers = 72

Let the unknown consecutive numbers be represented by x+1, x+2 and x+3 such that:

$(x + 1) + (x + 2) + (x + 3) = 72$

Remove the brackets

$x + 1 + x + 2 + x + 3 = 72$

Collect like terms and simplify

$x + x + x + 1 + 2 + 3 = 72$

$3x + 6 = 72$

Make 3x subject of formula by subtracting 6 from both sides

$3x + 6 - 6 = 72 - 6$

$3x = 66$

To obtain the value of x, divide through by the coefficient of x, which is 3. Hence;

$\frac{3x}{3} = \frac{66}{3}$

$x = 22$

Since x = 22,

$x + 1 = 22 + 1 = 23$

$x + 2 = 22 + 2 = 24$

$x + 3 = 22 + 3 = 25$

The smallest of these numbers is 23.

Check,

23 + 24 + 25 = 72

Answer 2

If we divide 72 by 3, we get 24. This is the middle number, from the three consecutive numbers. The smaller one is 24-1=23. This is your answer.
The bigger one is 24+1=25