Three consecutive multiples of 4 whose sum is 52?
1 Answer
This problem has no solutions, at least as written. See below for explanation.
Explanation:
Let the smallest of these three numbers be labeled
Because we are looking for consecutive multiples of 4, each of the larger numbers will be 4 larger than the one before it. The larger numbers can be labeled
These three numbers add up to 52.
Because we're simply adding all of the terms, the parentheses don't really matter. We can remove them.
We can combine like terms to make this problem a bit easier to solve.
When you combine like terms, you add up all of the terms in your expression that are "alike". In the case of this problem, we add the
Unfortunately, because 40 divided by 3 does not give us a whole number,
If instead you meant that each of the numbers is simply four larger than the one before it, then we can continue.
Add 4 to this number to get the second number, then 4 again for the third.
Therefore, the only set of numbers that somewhat satisfies the requirements laid out is
