Question

The sum of the reciprocals of two consecutive odd integers is 24/143. find the two integers.

Answer 1

Let one integer be x, the consecutive odd integer is x+2
reciprocals are 1/x and 1/(x+2)
1/x +1/(x+2)=24/143
make the denominators the same:
(x+2)/[x(x+2)] +x/[x(x+2)]=24/143
143(2x+2)=24(x)(x+2)
286x+286=24x²+48x
24x²-238x-286=0
use the quadratic formula: x=22 this doesn't work because 22 is not an odd number.
or x=-2.1666666666 (this is not an integer)

weird.