The product of the least and greatest of three consecutive negative odd integers is 221. Find the three integers.

Step-by-step explanation:

Square Root of 225 is 15 (with -15 also it would work but let’s stick to positive root)

Now, the 1st Odd Number is 15 -2 = 13 and the 3rd Odd Number is 15 + 2 = 17.

The required Numbers are 13 and 17.

This works for 3 consecutive Even Numbers also.

Why does it work?

Because, if we have 3 numbers to be a-2, a and a+2 (Doesn’t really matter if a is positive or negative)

(a-2)*(a+2) = a^2 - 4

So, you see adding 4 to the Product of the 1st Number and the 3rd Number (a^2 - 4 + 4 = a^2) gives you the square of the Middle Number, which is a^2!