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Bunuel
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Can you help spot the error in my approach:
Took x common
x(1+2+...+81). sum of n natural numbers 1-81: 3321, factorised to 3^4*41. 41 completes the square and thats what i marked.
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Can you help spot the error in my approach:
Took x common
x(1+2+...+81). sum of n natural numbers 1-81: 3321, factorised to 3^4*41. 41 completes the square and thats what i marked.
it should be = 81x + 3240 (=80*81/2). And not, x(1+2+....)
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Why is the answer different from sum of 1st n natural number method.
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Why is the answer different from sum of 1st n natural number method.
That method is not correct because we don’t have the sum of integers from 1 to (x+80). The sequence begins at x, not at 1. If you read the solution carefully, you'd see that the final sum runs from 9 through 89, not from 1.
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We can write S as
S = 81x + (1 + 2 +.....+80)

Using the formula for sum of first n natural numbers: n(n + 1) / 2

S = 81x + 80*(81) /2

S = 81 (x+ 40)

81 is a perfect square. (x + 40) will also be a perfect square - smallest value for x (+ve int) would be 9 :)
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