To analyze the problem, we first express \( a \) in terms of \( b \):
Given: \[ a = 3b + 20 \]
Since \( b \) is an even integer, we can denote: \[ b = 2k \] for some integer \( k \).
Substituting into the equation for \( a \): \[ a = 3(2k) + 20 = 6k + 20 \] Notice that \( a \) is expressed as: \[ a = 6k + 20 = 2(3k + 10) \] This shows that \( a \) is also an even integer since it is divisible by 2.
Now we will analyze the operations \( a + b \) and \( a \times b \).
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Calculate \( a + b \): \[ a + b = (6k + 20) + (2k) = 8k + 20 \] Because \( 8k + 20 \) is the sum of two even numbers (both \( 8k \) and \( 20 \) are even), \( a + b \) is even.
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Calculate \( a \times b \): \[ a \times b = (6k + 20) \times (2k) = 12k^2 + 40k \] Here, both terms \( 12k^2 \) and \( 40k \) are clearly even, so \( a \times b \) is also even.
Conclusively, we find that:
- \( a + b \) is always even.
- \( a \times b \) is always even.
Thus, the correct answer is: B: \( a + b \) and \( a \times b \) will always be an even integer.