Problema Solution

Jerome swapped the digits of a two digit natural number, and the new number he got was 30 less than the original number. What could the original number have been?

Answer provided by our tutors

let the original 2-digit number have the digits 'x' and 'y' that is, is written in the form: 10*x + y


x and y are elements of {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}


by swapping x and y we get the following number: 10*y + x


the new number is 30 less than the original number


10*y + x = 10*x + y - 30


9*x - 9*y = 30


3(x - y) = 10


x - y = 10/3


x and y are integers then x - y is integer as well


since the right side 10/3 is not an integer we conclude that this equation has no solutions thus


there is no such number.