Does there exist a pair of consecutive even integers whose reciprocals sum to 3/4? Explain how you know.
Accepted Solution
A:
Answer:2, 4Step-by-step explanation:Let there are two unknown consecutive pairs of even integers 2n and 2n+2.
If the sum of the reciprocals of those two integers is 3/4, then we can write,
1/2n +1/(2n+2) =3/4 ...... (1)
Solving this above equation we can check whether the integers exist or not.
Now, from equation (1) we get,
1/n +1/(n+1) =3/2
⇒[tex]2(2n+1)=3n(n+1)[/tex]
⇒4n +2 =3n²+3n
⇒3n²-n-2 =0
⇒ (n-1)(3n+2) =0
⇒ (n-1) =0 {Since if (3n+2) =0 then, n will be a negative fraction, which is not possible}
⇒ n=1
∴ 2n =2 and 2n+2 =4
Hence, the two integers are 2, 4. (Answer)