please help!

The arithmetic mean of 10 consecutive even integers is 3. What is the least of these 10 even integers? If the mean is 3, then five of the numbers must be less than 3 and five greater than 3. The numbers less than 3 must be −6, −4, −2, 0, 2 and those greater than 3 must be 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12. The least of these is −6 .

-tommarvoloriddle

THX, tommarvoloriddle   !!!

Here's one other way

Let 2n be the smallest integer  and  2n + 18  the largest

The sum of these  divided by 2 will = the mean

So

[ 2n + 2n + 18 ]

____________   =     3            multiply both sides by 2

         2

2n + 2n +18  =  6

4n + 18  =  6          subtract  18 from both sides

4n  =  -12   divide both sides by 4

n =  - 3  

So...the smallest integer  = 2n  = 2(-3)  = - 6