Question

The sum of 3 consecutive odd numbers is 39. What is the smallest of these numbers?

Answer 1

Answer:
The three integers are
11
,
13
, and
15
.
Explanation:
We shall consider the integers as
x
,
(
x
+
2
)
, and
(
x
+
4
)
. The sum of these is
39
, so we can write:
x
+
(
x
+
2
)
+
(
x
+
4
)
=
39
Open the brackets and simplify.
x
+
x
+
2
+
x
+
4
=
39
3
x
+
6
=
39
Subtract
6
from each side.
3
x
=
33
Divide both sides by
3
.
x
=
11
Therefore:
(
x
+
2
)
=
13
and
(
x
+
4
)
=
15