Problema Solution
if the product of four consuetive integers is equal to one of them what is the largest possible value one of the integers?
Answer provided by our tutors
let the four consecutive numbers be
x-1, x, x+1 and x+2
if one of them is 0 then indeed the product of four consecutive integers is equal to one of them that is 0.
lets assume that none of the four consecutive integers is 0.
let (x-1)x(x+1)(x+2) = (x-1)
x^3 + 3x^2 + 2x - 1 = 0
lets examine the function f(x) = x^3 + 3x^2 + 2x - 1
f(0) = -1 < 0
f(1) = 2 > 0
thus the solution of x^3 + 3x^2 + 2x - 1 = 0 is a number from the interval (0,1) and it is not an integer
click here to see the graph of the function y = x^3 - x - 1
using the same reasoning as above for the cases when
(x-1)x(x+1)(x+2) = x
(x-1)x(x+1)(x+2) = x+1
(x-1)x(x+1)(x+2) = x+2
we conclude that none of this equations has an integer solution.
The largest possible and the only value for one of the integers is 0.