Three consecutive integers have a sum of 228. What is the greatest of the 3 integers?

1 answer

Let the three consecutive integers be represented as \( x \), \( x+1 \), and \( x+2 \).

The sum of these three integers can be expressed as:

\[ x + (x + 1) + (x + 2) = 228 \]

Simplifying the left side, we get:

\[ 3x + 3 = 228 \]

Now, we can subtract 3 from both sides:

\[ 3x = 228 - 3 \]

\[ 3x = 225 \]

Next, we divide both sides by 3 to solve for \( x \):

\[ x = \frac{225}{3} = 75 \]

Thus, the three consecutive integers are:

\[ 75, 76, \text{ and } 77 \]

The greatest of these integers is:

\[ \boxed{77} \]

To verify, we can check the sum of these integers:

\[ 75 + 76 + 77 = 228 \]

The sum is correct, confirming that the largest integer is indeed \( \boxed{77} \).