Hi Lucia,

Let me ask a similar question with smaller numbers.

The least integer of a set of consecutive integers is -5. If the sum of these integers is 6, how many integers are in the set?

These munbers are small enough that I can list them

-5, -4, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

These are consecutive integers, the smallest is -5 and the sum is 6. This is the least set with these properties. To get a sum of 6 you must go up to 6 and to be consecutive you need all the integers from -5 to 6, including zero.

If you count the integers there are 12.

Penny

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