sat suite question viewer

Advanced Math / Nonlinear functions Difficulty: Hard

The product of two positive integers is 462 . If the first integer is 5 greater than twice the second integer, what is the smaller of the two integers?

Back question 133 of 229 Next

Explanation

The correct answer is 14 . Let x represent the first integer and y represent the second integer. If the first integer is 5 greater than twice the second integer, then x=2y+5. It's given that the product of the two integers is 462 ; therefore xy=462. Substituting 2y+5 for x in this equation yields (2y+5)(y)=462, which can be written as 2y2+5y=462. Subtracting 462 from each side of this equation yields 2y2+5y-462=0. The left-hand side of this equation can be factored by finding two values whose product is 2(-462), or - 924 , and whose sum is 5 . The two values whose product is - 924 and whose sum is 5 are 33 and - 28 . Thus, the equation 2y2+5y-462=0 can be rewritten as 2y2-28y+33y-462=0, which is equivalent to 2y(y-14)+33(y-14)=0, or (2y+33)(y-14)=0. By the zero product property, it follows that 2y+33=0 or y-14=0. Subtracting 33 from both sides of the equation 2y+33=0 yields 2y=-33. Dividing both sides of this equation by 2 yields y=-332. Since y is a positive integer, the value of y isn't -332. Adding 14 to both sides of the equation y-14=0 yields y=14. Substituting 14 for y in the equation xy=462 yields x(14)=462. Dividing both sides of this equation by 14 yields x=33. Therefore, the two integers are 14 and 33 , so the smaller of the two integers is 14 .