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CAT 2024 Slot 3 QA Question & Solution

ArithmeticMedium

Question

The average of three distinct real numbers is 28. If the smallest number is increased by 7 and the largest number is reduced by 10, the order of the numbers remains unchanged, and the new arithmetic mean becomes 2 more than the middle number, while the difference between the largest and the smallest numbers becomes 64.Then, the largest number in the original set of three numbers is

Solution

We are given that average of three distinct integers is 28, that means the sum of these three integers is 28x3=84

Let us write $x+y+z=84$
x, y, z being the three distinct integers in ascending order. 

If the smallest number is increased by 7 and the largest number is reduced by 10
$(x+7)+(y)+(z-10)=81$

New arithmetic mean will be $\frac{81}{3}=27$
And this is said to be 2 more than the middle number, meaning
$27-2=y=25$

$x+z=59$

We are given that difference between the largest and the smallest numbers becomes 64, 
$(z-10)-(x+7)=64$
$z-x=81$

Adding the two equations we get, $2z=140$
$z=70$