Of the three consecutive natural numbers, five times the smallest number is 9 more than four times the greatest number, find the numbers.

To solve the problem of finding three consecutive natural numbers, let's denote the smallest number as x. Therefore, the three consecutive numbers can be expressed as:

• Smallest: x
• Middle: x + 1
• Greatest: x + 2

According to the problem, five times the smallest number is 9 more than four times the greatest number. We can set up the equation based on this information:

5x = 4(x + 2) + 9

Now, let's simplify the equation:

5x = 4x + 8 + 9

5x = 4x + 17

Next, we can isolate x by subtracting 4x from both sides:

5x - 4x = 17

x = 17

Now that we have the smallest number, we can find the other two consecutive numbers:

• Smallest: 17
• Middle: 18
• Greatest: 19

Thus, the three consecutive natural numbers are 17, 18, and 19.