2, 3, - 4, - 6, - 8

From the list above, what are three numbers whose sum is - 12

-8 + - 6 + 2

Step-by-step explanation:

when adding a posative and a negative your answer will be negative

-6, - 8, and 2

Step-by-step explanation:

Some strategy tips: If you know your sum has to be negative, focus on the negatives first! A promising path might be to start with pairs of negatives, and try to find a third from there.

-4 + (-6) = - 10; adding a positive here would get us closer to zero and further from - 12, and adding - 8 would overshoot it. This pair's a dead end.

-4 + (-8) = - 12; we already hit our target! Adding any other number from the list would get us a different number. This one's no good either.

-6 + (-8) = - 14; promising! We just need to go a little closer to zero and we'll be at - 12. That distance is exactly 2, and as luck would have it, 2's on our list!

So our three numbers are - 6, - 8, and 2, and adding them together we find that yes, - 6 + (-8) + 2 = - 12!