This ones a bit of a trick question, since whether the integers are even or odd doesn't really matter. What does matter, is that consecutive odd integers are 2 numbers apart (as are consecutive even integers).
So again, if the first of the odd integers is the variable n
the consecutive odd integers after it can be written as:
n+2 , n+4, etc...
So the sum of four consecutive odd integers can be written as:
sum = n + (n+2) + (n+4) + (n+6)
Simplify:
sum = 4n + 12
And finally rearrange to solve for n:
[tex]\frac{sum-12}{4}[/tex] = n
This can also be written as:
[tex]\frac{sum}{4}[/tex] - 3 = n
Whichever way you prefer.
