(I'm Overwhelmed) Data Analysis Progress Quiz 1, Q8 (Spoiler)

Hi all,

Confused about the problem pictured above. In the solution, Greg assumes that a is between 2 and 3, allowing 3a to be larger than 6, which would be larger than 2.5a and so on, as he has placed it in the solution shown. I’m confused about how we can assume that. I’m sure there’s a reason I’m just missing. What would happen if a were 2.5, 3, or 4?

If anyone could help me out that’d be great!

Thanks

Do you see that the 4th and 5th numbers must both be 5? What does that tell you about the value of a?