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GMATPASSION
What is \(10 - 8 + 6 - 4 + ... - (-20)\) ?

8
10
12
14
16

I solved this by brute force? Any other way.

Pair them up.

10 - 8 = 2
6 - 4 = 2
2 - 0 = 2
.
.
-18 - (-20) = 2

There are a total of 16 terms (2*5 to 2*-10 gives you 5-(-10)+1 = 16 terms) so you will get 8 pairs. Hence the sum will be 2*8 = 16
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Note that 10-8 =2 and 6-4 =2. The next two terms, i.e. 2 and 0 also yield 2. Therefore the series is simply the sum of 2 over many terms.

How many such terms are there? The first negative term is 8 and the last is -20, with a common difference of -4. Alternatively, we could calculate the number of terms by taking the first term as 10, the common difference as -4, and the last term as -18.

-20 = 8 + (n-1) (-4)
=> n = 8

Therefore the answer is simply 2*8 = 16 , or option (E).
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GMATPASSION
What is \(10 - 8 + 6 - 4 + ... - (-20)\) ?

8
10
12
14
16

I solved this by brute force? Any other way.

Or consider them as sum of 2 arithmetic progressions (though it would be much better if you see the pairing pattern)

I) 10 + 6 + 2 + (-2) ....+(-18)

AP with first term = 10 and common diff = -4
Sum = (8/2)(2*10 + 7*(-4)) = -32

II) -8 -4 - 0 - (-4) +..- (-20)
AP with first term = -8 and common diff = 4
Sum = (8/2)(2*(-8) + 7*(4)) = 48

Sum of the series = -32 + 48 = 16
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some one please enlighten me

please list the whole series and how a common difference of -4 is obtained .

Sorry my limited wisdom is unable to grasp the process

as far as I can see the terms are decreasing by 2 with alternating + and - sign

so the series should continue as 10 -8 +6 - 4 + 2 - 0 + (-2) - ( -4 ) + ( -6) - (-8 ) + ( -10) -( -12) +( -14 )

- (-16) +(-18)- (-20)

10 - 8 + 6 - 4 + 2 - 0 -2 + 4 - 6 + 8 - 10 + 12 - 14 + 16 - 18 + 20


some one please explain how common difference is - 4

please include the complete series so that we can see how this works
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GMATPASSION
What is 10 - 8 + 6 - 4 + ... - (-20) ?

A. 8
B. 10
C. 12
D. 14
E. 16


Bunuel VeritasKarishma Please help me.

I deduced two series.

10, 6, 2, -2, -6, -10, -14, -18 (In this series we are deducting 4 from previous term)
-8, -4, 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 (In this series we are adding 4 to previous term)

My question is why -(-20) is written in the question stem instead of 20 though the -(-20) = 20.

Is it intentional or I am deducing something wrong?

Thanks in advance.
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Balkrishna
GMATPASSION
What is 10 - 8 + 6 - 4 + ... - (-20) ?

A. 8
B. 10
C. 12
D. 14
E. 16


Bunuel VeritasKarishma Please help me.

I deduced two series.

10, 6, 2, -2, -6, -10, -14, -18 (In this series we are deducting 4 from previous term)
-8, -4, 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 (In this series we are adding 4 to previous term)

My question is why -(-20) is written in the question stem instead of 20 though the -(-20) = 20.

Is it intentional or I am deducing something wrong?

Thanks in advance.

There are two ways of looking at the same thing:
- You can say that in the second series 4 is getting added to each term.
- Or you can say that a smaller number is getting subtracted at each subsequent step. 8 got subtracted. Then 4 got subtracted. Then 0 will get subtracted. Then -4 will get subtracted. Then -8 will get subtracted and so on till -20 is subtracted (which is same as 20).
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