The sum of 3 consecutive odd numbers is 87. what is the smallest of the 3 numbers?

Lets first numbers is x, second is (x+2), third is x+4
sum is x+(x+2)+(x+4)=87
3x+6=87
3x=81
x=27
smallest number is 27

1. isolate the variable, in this case, d. subtract 35.5 on both sides of the equation.2. 52 subtracted by 35.5 is 16.53. therefore your answer would be d= 16.5this is the basics of pre algebra, isolating variable through adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing, if you have any other questions to ask just comment!