The sum of three consecutive odd numbers is one hundred seventy-one what is the smallest of the three numbers?

We will represent our three consecutive odd numbers as , , and , where is an odd integer. (Adding 2 and 4 creates the next odd integers.)

Since the sum of the numbers is 171, we can say their average is . This means that the average of three three expressions we stated in the beginning is also 57. If we find the average of those three numbers, we get:

We now know that the average of the three expressions is . Since the average is equal to 57, we can find :

This means our numbers are 55, 57, and 59. ("Plug" 2 in for in the expressions we found in the first part of the problem.)

to determine the unit cost your would divide the total cost by the number sold.

7 bagels for $4.41       $4.41/7 = $.63 each at fresh side

5 bagels for $3.60         $3.60/5 = $.72 each at value mart