Question 1105851
.
four consecutive numbers subtract to be -50. what is the thrid number?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The formulation is &nbsp;<U>SO BAD</U> . . . &nbsp;&nbsp;And &nbsp;<U>SO INCORRECT</U> . . . 



The right formulation is THIS:


<pre>
    The sum of four consecutive integer numbers is -50. what is the third number?
</pre>

<pre>
<U>Answer</U>.  The numbers are -14, -13, - 12 and -11.

         The third number is -12 (if to count from the smallest number to the largest one).


<U>Solution</U>


n + (n+1) + n+2) + (n+3) = - 50.


Solve for n:

4n + 6 = -50  ====>  4n = -50 - 6 = -56  ====>  n = {{{(-56)/4}}} = -14.
</pre>