Find four consecutive numbers whose sum equals 218

Answer: 53, 54, 55, and 56

Step-by-step explanation: This problem states that the sum of 4 consecutive numbers is 218 and it asks us to find the numbers.

4 consecutive numbers can be represented as followed.

X ⇒ first number

X + 1 ⇒ second number

X + 2 ⇒ third number

X + 3 ⇒ fourth number

Since the sum of our 4 consecutive numbers is 218, we can set up an equation to represent this.

X + X + 1 + X + 2 + X + 3 = 218

On the left side of the equation, we can combine our x's and our numbers.

4x + 6 = 218

-6 - 6 ← subtract 6 from both sides of the equation

4x = 212

:4 : 4 ← divide both sides of the equation by 4

X = 53

X ⇒ first number = 53

X + 1 ⇒ second number = 54

X + 2 ⇒ third number = 55

X + 3 ⇒ fourth number = 56

Therefore, our 4 consecutive numbers are 53, 54, 55, and 56.