document.write( "Question 987819: The numbers 1,2,3 can we written next to each other and with + and - signs you can get a sum of 0, ie 1+2-3=0. You can also do it for 1-4 by doing 1-2-3+4=0. It cannot be done for numbers 1-5. \r
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document.write( "i. Will it work for 1-6? 1-7? 1-8? \r
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document.write( "ii. In general, for which numbers will jt work? \n" );
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Algebra.Com's Answer #608566 by Edwin McCravy(20056)![]() ![]() You can put this solution on YOUR website! \r\n" ); document.write( "I set up my computer to find all the\r\n" ); document.write( "possible results of 0 for the first n positive integers\r\n" ); document.write( "up through n=8 with all possibilities of + and -\r\n" ); document.write( "signs between them. \r\n" ); document.write( "\r\n" ); document.write( "There are no ways for 5 or 6,\r\n" ); document.write( "\r\n" ); document.write( "There are 3,4,7,8 (lots of ways for 7 and 8. \r\n" ); document.write( "\r\n" ); document.write( "1+2-3 = 0\r\n" ); document.write( "\r\n" ); document.write( "1-2-3+4 = 0\r\n" ); document.write( "\r\n" ); document.write( "1+2-3+4-5-6+7 = 0\r\n" ); document.write( "1+2-3-4+5+6-7 = 0\r\n" ); document.write( "1-2+3+4-5+6-7 = 0\r\n" ); document.write( "1-2-3-4-5+6+7 = 0\r\n" ); document.write( "\r\n" ); document.write( "1+2+3+4-5-6-7+8 = 0\r\n" ); document.write( "1+2+3-4+5-6+7-8 = 0\r\n" ); document.write( "1+2-3+4+5+6-7-8 = 0\r\n" ); document.write( "1+2-3-4-5-6+7+8 = 0\r\n" ); document.write( "1-2+3-4-5+6-7+8 = 0\r\n" ); document.write( "1-2-3+4+5-6-7+8 = 0\r\n" ); document.write( "1-2-3+4-5+6+7-8 = 0\r\n" ); document.write( "\r\n" ); document.write( "In fact the number of ways the number of solutions for \r\n" ); document.write( "1+-2+-3+-...+-n forms this sequence: \r\n" ); document.write( "\r\n" ); document.write( "0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 4, 7, 0, 0, 35, 62, 0, 0, 361, 657, 0, 0, 4110, 7636, 0, 0,\r\n" ); document.write( "49910, 93846, 0, 0, 632602, 1199892, 0, 0, 8273610, 15796439, 0, 0, 110826888,\r\n" ); document.write( "212681976, 0, 0, 1512776590, 2915017360, 0, 0, 20965992017, 40536016030, 0, 0,\r\n" ); document.write( "294245741167\r\n" ); document.write( "\r\n" ); document.write( "So, it looks as though there are none for n \r\n" ); document.write( "1,2,5,6,9,10,13,14,etc.\r\n" ); document.write( "\r\n" ); document.write( "Seems to follow a pattern.\r\n" ); document.write( "\r\n" ); document.write( "Edwin\n" ); document.write( " |