Problema Solution
A positive integer is three times another. What is the smaller integer if the sum of their reciprocals is 4/9?
Answer provided by our tutors
Let x represent first integer then the other integer will be 3x (3 times the first integer).
The reciprocal of x is 1/x.
The reciprocal of 3x is 1/(3x).
The sum of the reciprocals is 4/9:
1/x + 1/(3x) = 4/9
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click here to see the equation solved for x
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x = 3
The other integer is 3*3 = 9.
Since 3<9 follows 3 is the smaller integer.
The smaller integer is 3.