Integers

by **larhea** Mon Nov 17, 2008 8:53 pm

The Product of two consecutive integers is 30. Their sum is -11. What is the integers?

by **Guest** Mon Nov 17, 2008 10:12 pm

IF THEIR SUM IS NEGATIVE, BOTH INTEGERS ARE NEGATIVE (IF THEY WERE POSITIVE THEIR SUM WOULD BE POSITIVE AND YOU CANNOT HAVE ONE + AND ONE -, SINCE THEY ARE CONSECUTIVES AND ZERO IS IN BETWEEN, WHICH CANNOT BE OTHERWISE THEIR PRODUCT WOULD BE ZERO).
FACTOR 30: -6 x -5 =30.

by **RonPurewal** Sat Nov 29, 2008 8:00 am

this doesn't seem like a GMATPREP problem (those are supposed to be the sole subject of this folder). is it?

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if this is really the entirety of the problem, then by far the easiest thing for you to do is just PLUG IN THE ANSWER CHOICES.
one of the answer choices will say -6 and -5.
add them: -11. check.
multiply them: +30. check.
voilÃ
done

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note that this problem doesn't even have to say "consecutive"; that's actually the only pair of integers with sum = -11 and product = 30, whether you specify that they're consecutive or not.

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