SSAT Upper Level Math : How to find consecutive integers

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SSAT Upper Level Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #491 : Number Concepts And Operations

Three consecutive even integers have sum 924. What is the product of the least and greatest of the three?

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 93,632\)

\(\displaystyle 94,860\)

\(\displaystyle 97,340\)

\(\displaystyle 96,096\)

No three consecutive even integers have sum 924.

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 94,860\)

Explanation:

Let the middle integer of the three be \(\displaystyle x\). The three integers are therefore 

\(\displaystyle x-2, x, x+2\), and they can be found using the equation

\(\displaystyle \left (x-2 \right )+ x +\left ( x+2 \right ) = 924\)

\(\displaystyle 3x= 924\)

\(\displaystyle x = 308\)

The three even integers are therefore 306, 308, and 310, and the product of the least and greatest of these is 

\(\displaystyle 306 \times 310= 94,860\)

Example Question #1 : Consecutive Integers

Three consecutive odd integers have sum 537. What is the product of the least and greatest of the three?

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 29\textup{,}925\)

\(\displaystyle 30\textup{,}621\)

\(\displaystyle 31\textup{,}325\)

\(\displaystyle 29\textup{,}237\)

\(\displaystyle 32\textup{,}037\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 32\textup{,}037\)

Explanation:

Let the middle integer of the three be \(\displaystyle x\). The three integers are therefore 

\(\displaystyle x-2, x, x+2\), and they can be found using the equation

\(\displaystyle \left (x-2 \right )+ x +\left ( x+2 \right ) = 537\)

\(\displaystyle 3x= 537\)

\(\displaystyle x = 1 79\)

The three integers are 177, 179, and 181, and the product of the least and greatest is 

\(\displaystyle 177 \times 181 = 32,037\)

Example Question #1 : Sequences And Series

Four consecutive integers have sum 3,350. What is the product of the middle two?

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle \textup{No four consecutive integers have a sum of 3,350}\)

\(\displaystyle 703\textup{,}082\)

\(\displaystyle 701\textup{,}406\)

\(\displaystyle 699\textup{,}732\)

\(\displaystyle 704\textup{,}760\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 701\textup{,}406\)

Explanation:

Call the least of the four integers \(\displaystyle x\). The four integers are therefore

\(\displaystyle x, x+1, x+2, x+3\),

and they can be found using the equation

\(\displaystyle x + \left (x+1 \right )+\left (x+2 \right )+\left ( x+3 \right )= 3,350\)

\(\displaystyle 4x+6= 3,350\)

\(\displaystyle 4x=3,344\)

\(\displaystyle x=3,344 \div 4 = 836\)

The integers are 836, 837, 838, 839. 

To get the correct response, multiply: 

\(\displaystyle 837 \times 838 = 701,406\)

Example Question #3 : Sequences And Series

Three consecutive integers have sum \(\displaystyle 427\). What is their product?

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 2,985,840\)

\(\displaystyle 3,048,480\)

\(\displaystyle 2,924,064\)

\(\displaystyle 2,863,146\)

\(\displaystyle \text{No three consecutive integers have sum } 427.\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle \text{No three consecutive integers have sum } 427.\)

Explanation:

Let the middle integer of the three be \(\displaystyle x\). The three integers are therefore 

\(\displaystyle x-1, x, x+1\), and they can be found using the equation

\(\displaystyle \left (x-1 \right )+ x +\left ( x+1 \right ) = 427\)

\(\displaystyle 3x= 427\)

\(\displaystyle x = 142\frac{1}{3}\)

This contradicts the condition that the numbers are integers. Therefore, three integers satisfying the given conditions cannot exist. 

Example Question #1 : How To Find Consecutive Integers

Three consecutive integers have a sum of \(\displaystyle 312\). What is their product?

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 1,157,520\)

\(\displaystyle 1,092,624\)

\(\displaystyle 1,124,760\)

\(\displaystyle \text{No three consecutive integers have sum 312.}\)

\(\displaystyle 1,190,910\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 1,124,760\)

Explanation:

Let the middle integer of the three be \(\displaystyle x\). The three integers are therefore 

\(\displaystyle x-1, x, x+1\), and they can be found using the equation

\(\displaystyle \left (x-1 \right )+ x +\left ( x+1 \right ) = 312\)

\(\displaystyle 3x= 312\)

\(\displaystyle x = 104\)

The integers are therefore 103, 104, 105. The correct response is their product, which is

\(\displaystyle 103 \times 104 \times 105= 1,124,760\)

Example Question #6 : How To Find Consecutive Integers

\(\displaystyle 1,3,9,x.81\)

What is the value of \(\displaystyle x\) is this sequence?

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 243\)

\(\displaystyle 25\)

\(\displaystyle 27\)

\(\displaystyle 12\)

\(\displaystyle 30\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 27\)

Explanation:

This is a geometric sequence since the pattern of the sequence is through multiplication.  

You have to multiple each value by \(\displaystyle 3\) to get the next one.  

The value before \(\displaystyle x\) is \(\displaystyle 9\) so \(\displaystyle 9*3=27\).

Example Question #2 : Sequences And Series

Which of the following can be the sum of four consecutive positive integers?

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 420\)

\(\displaystyle 213\)

\(\displaystyle 143\)

\(\displaystyle 178\)

None of the other answers are correct. 

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 178\)

Explanation:

Let \(\displaystyle N\)\(\displaystyle N+1\)\(\displaystyle N+2\), and \(\displaystyle N+3\) be the four consecutive integers. Then their sum would be 

\(\displaystyle N + (N+1) + (N+2) + (N+3) = 4N + 6\)

In other words, if 6 were to be subtracted from their sum, the difference would be a multiple of 4. Therefore, we subtract 6 from each of the choices and see if any of the resulting differences are multiples of 4.

\(\displaystyle 178 -6 = 172 ; 172 \div4 = 43\)

\(\displaystyle 213 -6 = 207 ; 207 \div4 = 51 \; R \; 3\)

\(\displaystyle 420 -6 = 414 ; 414 \div4 = 103 \: R \: 2\)

\(\displaystyle 143 -6 = 137 ; 137 \div4 = 34\: R\: 1\)

Since this only happens in the case of 178, this is the only number of the four that can be a sum of four consecutive integers: 43, 44, 45, 46.

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