Three consecutive integers add up to the exact same value as when you multiply the middle integer by three. What is the middle integer?
Any integer
Algebraically, (x-1) + x + (x+1) = 3x. The -1 and +1 cancel out, leaving 3x = 3x, which is true for any integer x.
About this riddle
Math riddles hide a calculation inside a short story. Pull out the numbers, work out what is being asked, and watch for a trick such as a unit change.
Difficulty: Hard. More like this: Math riddles with answers or try Target 24 for a different kind of puzzle.
More math riddles
Three friends share a pizza cut into 8 slices. Alice eats 3 slices, Bob eats 2 slices, and Charlie eats the rest. What fraction of the pizza did Charlie eat?
Sam has 14 clovers and Ava has 3. How many more clovers does Sam have?
Mia has 3 birds. Omar has twice as many. How many birds do they have together?
Mia has 4 flags. Kai has twice as many. How many flags do they have together?
Kai has 18 shells and Ana has 5. How many more shells does Kai have?
I am a sequence of numbers where each term after the first two is the sum of the two preceding terms. If my third term is 4 and my fourth term is 7, what is my first term?