Problem: Andrei picks a number.

He doubles the number, squares the result, divides

the square by 3, subtracts 30 from the quotient, and gets 18. What are the possible
numbers that Andrei could have picked?
Solution
𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑛𝑎 18, 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡, 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑜 𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑎 𝑎 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛
𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑓𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑙𝑒𝑡 ′ 𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑛𝑎 𝑥
𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑦𝑎𝑘𝑎𝑛 𝑛𝑎 𝑑𝑜𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟, 𝑒𝑑𝑖 2𝑥 𝑛𝑎
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑛, 𝑦𝑎𝑘𝑎𝑛 𝑛𝑎 𝑖𝑔 𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑤 𝑎𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑙𝑡 𝑖𝑡𝑜, 𝑠𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 (2𝑥)2 = 4𝑥 2
4𝑥 2
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑛, 𝑖𝑔 𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑤 𝑖𝑡𝑜 𝑛𝑎 𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑏𝑦 3 𝑠𝑜,
3
4𝑥 2
𝐿𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑦, 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑑𝑎𝑤 30 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔, − 30
3
4𝑥 2
𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑛 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟, 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑜 − 30 = 18
3
𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒, 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑠:
Basically isolate x lang
4𝑥 2
− 30 = 18
3
4𝑥 2
= 18 + 30
3
4𝑥 2
= 48
3
4𝑥 2 = 48 ∗ 3 Basically gin multiply lang ang 3 para mamove hiya to the right
4𝑥 2 = 144
144
𝑥2 = Gin divide lang 4 para mamove gihap to the right
4

𝑥 2 = 36 Then, take the square root

√𝑥 2 = √36

𝑥=6

So from here basically, we can consider na it 6 as part of the numbers na pwede napili
ni fucking Andrei.
So the solution goes:
6 gi double naging 12, ig square daw ito so naging 12 x 12 = 144, then ig divide
daw by 3 so naging 48 then subtract daw 30, so diba 18, TAMA!
From here, from the fact na nagsquare kita, itry nat if mawork liwat it −6, so −6 gi
double naging −12 then ig square which becomes 144 then it follows an same logic
liwat which also ends up at 18

So now mayda na kita 6 and -6 as possible numbers talaga, then let’s reason out na
since an variable is basically just at the numerator an equation na nafind mo, basically if
mag dako an number an gin pili mo sa 6, meaning madako gihap than 18 an answer
and vice-versa if guti naman than 6 then an final is going to be less than 18, to show
this:
Let’s choose 5 to represent an usa na case na mas guti an napili and 7 naman to
represent if mas dako an napili so we see that:
4(5)2
− 30 = 3.333
3

4(7)2
− 30 = 35.333
3
Alternative: If gusto mo visually maprove liwat na asya la talaga adto na duwa is by
showing the graph an nakuha nat na equation:
Which shows na asya la talaga it values it makakaabot it 18 which you can see sa x-
axis na 6 and -6 lang

So the final answer is 6 and -6 madame hope this helps!