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I have a fourth grader who has a weekly brain buster assignment. This weeks is hard please help me to try to understand have to find the answer using the basic math problem solving stratagies. Here is the Question ------THE PRODUCT OF TWO CONSECUTIVE NUMBERS IS 41 MORE THAN THE SUM OF THE NUMBERS. WHAT ARE THE NUMBERS?

THANK YOU IN ADVANCED MOTHER OF A 4TH GRADER

 

 

Hi,

For a 4th grader the way to solve this problem is by "guess and check". Try something small like 2 and 3.

2 + 3 = 5 and 2 3 = 6 Hence the product is only 1 more than the sum. You need something larger, so try 10 and 11. 10 + 11 = 21 and 10 11 = 110 Hence the product is 100 more than the sum. This difference is too large so try a pair of numbers between 2 and 3, and 10 and 11. Maybe 5 and 6.

I hope this helps,
Penny
 
 

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