Stuck - Pleae help

tlwaring

New member
Joined
Aug 16, 2005
Messages
15
I have been stuck on this one problem for over an hour:

The sum of the reciprocals of 2 consecutive even integers is 7/12. Find the two integers.

Can someone help me get started in the right direction?

Thanks -

Tracey
 
The standard method would be:
The integers are 2x and 2x+2
so you have
Code:
    1      1      7
   --- + ---- = ----
   2x    2x+2    12
Clear the denominators by multiplying by
(12)(x)(x+1)
to get a quadratic to solve.
But if I am not making a mistake, I don't get an integer answer. Are you sure you have the problem correct?
 
I think the sum should be 5/12 (1/4 + 1/6)
...or 7/24 (1/6 + 1/8)
 
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