set 5 consists of the consecutive integers from -8 to w inclusive. if the sum of all of the integers in set w is 30, how many numbers are in the set?
a.16
b.18
c.19
d.20
e.22

Question

set 5 consists of the consecutive integers from -8 to w inclusive. if the sum of all of the integers in set w is 30, how many numbers are in the set?
a.16
b.18
c.19
d.20
e.22

blurbendy · Answer

-8, -7, -6, -5, -4, -3 , -2 , -1, 0

The sum is POSITIVE, so we need to balance out these negative numbers with their positive counter parts:

-8, -7, -6, -5, -4, -3 , -2 , -1, 0, 1 , 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Our total sum is now 0

The next consecutive integer is 9, so our total sum is now 0 + 9 = 9

Can you tell me what the next step this is (or maybe even figure out the answer)?