The sum of four consecutive integers is -42. What are the integers?

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Answer 1 · 2016-10-06T09:08:38

The integers are $- 12, - 11, - 10, - 9$ $-12, -11, -10, -9$

Recall: Consecutive numbers follow each other and are separated by 1 each time, [Like 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 ...]

Let the four integers be $x, x + 1, x + 2, x + 3$ $x, x+1, x+2, x+3$

Their sum is -42. Form an equation to show this.

$x + x + 1 + x + 2 + x + 3 = - 42 \leftarrow$ $x+x+1+x+2+x+3 = -42" "larr$ now simplify

$4 x + 6 = - 42 \leftarrow$ $4x+6 = -42" "larr$ now solve the eqution

$4 x = - 42 - 6$ $4x = -42-6$

$4 x = - 48$ $4x = -48$

$x = - \frac{48}{4}$ $x = -48/4$

$x = - 12 \leftarrow$ $x =-12" "larr$ this is the smallest of the integers,

The integers are $- 12, - 11, - 10, - 9$ $-12, -11, -10, -9$