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Consecutive Numbers

Find the consective numbers that are added or multiplied to give the given totals.

Level 1 Level 2 Exam-Style Description Help More Algebra

Consecutive Numbers are numbers which follow each other in order; for example 7,8,9,10. For this exercise all answers are positive numbers.

Two consecutive numbers multiplied together give the answer thirty. What is the smallest of those numbers?30

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Two consecutive numbers multiplied together give the answer one hundred and eighty two. What is the smallest of those numbers?182

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Two consecutive numbers multiplied together give the answer five hundred and fifty two. What is the smallest of those numbers?552

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Two consecutive numbers multiplied together give the answer one thousand, two hundred and sixty. What is the smallest of those numbers?1260

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Two consecutive numbers multiplied together give the answer two thousand, five hundred and fifty. What is the smallest of those numbers?2550

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Two consecutive numbers multiplied together give the answer four thousand, six hundred and ninety two. What is the smallest of those numbers?4692

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Three consecutive numbers multiplied together give the answer seven hundred and seventy eight thousand, five hundred and ninety six. What is the smallest of those numbers?778596

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The largest of four consecutive numbers is twenty three. What is the product of those numbers?23

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Three consecutive even numbers multiply together to give a product of ten thousand, five hundred and sixty. What is the largest of those numbers?10560

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If a, b and c are three consecutive positive odd numbers and the square of b is thirty five more than the sum of a and c what is a?35

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Instructions

Try your best to answer the questions above. Type your answers into the boxes provided leaving no spaces. As you work through the exercise regularly click the "check" button. If you have any wrong answers, do your best to do corrections but if there is anything you don't understand, please ask your teacher for help.

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Description of Levels

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Level 1 - Questions about the addition of consecutive numbers

Level 2 - Questions about the multiplication of consecutive numbers

Exam Style questions are in the style of GCSE or IB/A-level exam paper questions and worked solutions are available for Transum subscribers.

More on this topic including lesson Starters, visual aids and investigations.

Answers to this exercise are available lower down this page when you are logged in to your Transum account. If you don’t yet have a Transum subscription one can be very quickly set up if you are a teacher, tutor or parent.

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Example 1

Three consecutive numbers added together give the answer thirty three. What is the smallest of those numbers?

Let the smallest number be x.

The other two numbers can be written as x+1 and x+2.

The sum of the three numbers is x + x+1 + x+2 = 33

Simplifying this equation gives 3x + 3 = 33

Subtract three from both sides: 3x = 30

Divide both sides by three gives: x = 10

So the smallest number is ten.

Example 2

Two consecutive numbers multiplied together give the answer forty two. What is the smallest of those numbers?

Let the smallest number be x.

The other number can be written as x+1.

The product of the numbers is x(x+1) = 42

Expanding the brackets gives: x2 + x = 42

x2 + x - 42 = 0

(x + 7)(x - 6) = 0

Taking the positive answer; the smallest number is six.

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