Three numbers are in AS. If the sum of these numbers is 27 and the product is 585, find the numbers.
Solution
Let (a-d), a, and (a+d) be the three numbers in Arithmetic Series.
Given,
- The sum of the three numbers is 27. $\rm (a - d) + a + (a + d) = 27$ $\rm \Rightarrow 3a = 27 \Rightarrow a = 9$.
- The product of the three numbers is 585. $\rm (a - d) \cdot a \cdot (a + d) = 585$.
On solving the second condition, we get,
$\rm or, a \cdot (a - d) (a + d) = 585$
By using the formula, $\rm (a - b)(a + b) = a^{2} - b^{2}$, we get,
$\rm or, a \cdot (a^{2} - d^{2} ) = 585$
By substituting the value of a obtained above as $\rm a = 9$ in the equation, we get,
$\rm or, 9 \cdot ( 9^{2} - d^{2} ) = 585$
$\rm or, (9^{2} - d^{2}) = \frac{585}{9}$
$\rm or, 9^{2} - d^{2} = 65$
$\rm or, 81 - d^{2} = 65$
$\rm or, 81 + d^{2} - d^{2} = 65 + d^{2}$
$\rm or, 81 = 65 + d^{2}$
$\rm or, 81 - 65 = 65 - 65 + d^{2}$
$\rm or, 16 = d^{2}$
$\rm or, d = \pm \sqrt{16}$
$\rm \therefore d = \pm 4$
When we take $\rm d = 4$, we get,
$\rm (a - d) = (9 - 4) = 5; a = 9; (a + d) = (9 + 4) = 13$
When we take $\rm d = -4$, we get,
$\rm (a - d) = (9 - (-4)) = 13; a = 9; (a + d) = (9 + (-4)) = 5$
Hence, the required numbers are {5,9,13}.