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Sum of consecutive integers - which must be true?

Expert replies
by BlueDragon2010 » Tue Mar 04, 2014 12:18 pm
If the sum of n consecutive integers is 0, which of the following must be true?

I. n is an even number
II. n is an odd number
III. The average (arithmetic mean) of the n integers is 0

A) I only
B) II only
C) III only
D) I and III
E) II and III
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Source: — Problem Solving |

by Patrick_GMATFix » Tue Mar 04, 2014 12:29 pm
This type of question doesn't require any calculation. The only way for consecutive integers to add up to 0 is for the middle integer to be 0 (so there are an odd number of values), with all the others evenly distributed on either side (so average=0). The answer is E. I go through the question in detail in the full solution below (taken from the GMATFix App).

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by [email protected] » Tue Mar 04, 2014 2:08 pm
Hi BlueDragon2010,

This is an example of a Roman Numeral question. Usually, the easiest way to find the correct answer is to prove the OPPOSITE of what is asked, if possible. You might end up using a Number Property to verify that a given statement is true though. This question asks for what MUST BE TRUE? Think about how you can prove that each statement is NOT always true, then you can eliminate it from the answer choices.

Here, we're told that the sum of N consecutive integers = 0.

Roman Numeral III shows up the most often, so we'll start there....

III. The average of the integers is 0

For consecutive integers to sum to 0, the numbers need to "balance" around 0.

eg.
0
-1, 0, 1
-2, -1, 0, 1, 2
-3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3
Etc.

The average of any of these groups will be 0 because the SUM will be 0 (and the average of any group = SUM/Terms).
Roman Numeral III is ALWAYS TRUE. Eliminate A and B.

Based on our examples (above), you can see that the N terms could be include 1 term, 3 terms, 5 terms, 7 terms, etc. This means that N MUST be Odd. With the remaining 2 Roman Numerals, you can see that:

Roman Numeral I is NOT TRUE
Roman Numeral II IS ALWAYS TRUE

Final Answer: E

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Rich
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