Problem 5 · The middle is the average · 4 points
Made by AI and not reviewed by a real person.
The sum of five consecutive whole numbers is 65. What is the LARGEST of the five numbers?
- 14
- 17
- 15
- 16
- 13
Show a hint
- In a run of consecutive numbers, the middle one is the average of them all.
Show the answer and solution
Answer: C — 15
Five consecutive numbers are symmetric around the middle one, so the middle is 65 ÷ 5 = 13, and the numbers are 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 — largest 15. Exploiting symmetry (instead of setting up x + (x+1) + …) is faster and shows WHY it works.