Answer:
18
Step-by-step explanation:
The first four terms of your sequence are
a₁ = 34
a₂ = 30
a₃ = 26
a₄ = 22
If the sum of all the terms is zero, there must be a set of negative terms corresponding to the positive ones.
That is, the last four terms must be -22, -26, -30, -34.
So, one strategy is to find the number of positive terms and multiply by 2.
Each term (aₙ) in your sequence is 4 units less than the preceding term (aₙ₋₁) .
The explicit formula is
aₙ= 34 - 4(n - 1)
Assume aₙ = 0. Then
[tex]\begin{array}{rcl}0 & = & 34 - 4(n-1)\\& = & 34 - 4n + 4\\& = & 38 - 4n\\4n & = & 38\\n & = & 9.5\\\end{array}[/tex]
We can't have a fractional number of terms, so
n = 9 (that is, the last positive number is 2).
There must be a corresponding sequence of nine negative numbers.
Your complete sequence has 18 terms.