The product of two consecutive negative integers is 600. what is the value of the lesser integer? - 60 - 30 - 25 - 15

To answer the problem above, let x be the first integer and x + 1 be the next integer. Given that their product is 600, the equation that best models this situation is,

(x) (x + 1) = 600

Simplify,

x² + x - 600 = 0

The roots of the equation above is 24 and - 25. Since we are asked for the negative integers, we take x = - 25. Thus, the first integer is - 25 and the second integer is - 24. The lesser integer is - 25.