Question

Tripling the greater of two consecutive even integers gives the same result as subtracting 10 from the lesser even integer. What are the integers?

Answer 1

The first problem is translating the word problem into a math problem. 

Let n = one of the even integers Let n+2 = the other integer 

Now let us write an equation and solve it: 

3(n+2) = n - 10 This equation expresses what is written in the word problem. 

3(n+2) = n - 10
3n + 6 = n - 10
3n - n = -10 -6
2n = -16
n = -8
n+2 = -6