Question

The sum of 5 consecutive numbers is 50. What is the smallest number of the 5 numbers?

Answer 1

Let the five consecutive numbers be represented as \( n, n+1, n+2, n+3, n+4 \).

The sum of these numbers can be calculated as follows:

\[
n + (n + 1) + (n + 2) + (n + 3) + (n + 4) = 5n + 10
\]

According to the problem, the sum of these five numbers equals 50:

\[
5n + 10 = 50
\]

To solve for \( n \), we first subtract 10 from both sides:

\[
5n = 40
\]

Then, we divide both sides by 5:

\[
n = 8
\]

Thus, the smallest of the five consecutive numbers is \( n \), which is:

\[
\boxed{8}
\]

To verify, we calculate the five consecutive numbers: \( 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 \). Their sum is:

\[
8 + 9 + 10 + 11 + 12 = 50
\]

The calculation confirms that the answer is indeed correct, and the smallest number is \( \boxed{8} \).