The product of two positive numbers is 96. Determine the two numbers if one is 4 more than the other

Discussion in 'Calculator Requests' started by math_celebrity, Dec 1, 2016.

  1. math_celebrity

    math_celebrity Administrator Staff Member

    The product of two positive numbers is 96. Determine the two numbers if one is 4 more than the other.

    Let the 2 numbers be x and y.

    We have:
    1. xy = 96
    2. x = y - 4

    Substitute (2) into (1)
    (y - 4)y = 96
    y^2 - 4y = 96

    Subtract 96 from both sides:
    y^2 - 4y - 96 = 0

    Factoring using our quadratic calculator, we get:
    (y - 12)(y + 8)

    So y = 12 and y = -8. Since the problem states positive numbers, we use y = 12.
    Substituting y = 12 into (2), we get:
    x = 12 - 4
    x = 8

    We have (x, y) = (8, 12)
     

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