document.write( "Question 1150514: Clara organizes cans in triangular piles, where each row has one less can than the row below. For example, the pile of 15 cans has 5 cans in the bottom row and 4 cans in the row above it.\r
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document.write( "(a) There are 3240 cans in a pile. How many cans are in the bottom row?\r
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document.write( "(b) There are S cans and they are organized in a triangular pile with 'n' cans in the bottom row. Show that n^2 +n - 2S= 0\r
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document.write( "(c) Clara has 2100 cans. Explain why she cant organize them in a triangular pile. \n" );
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Algebra.Com's Answer #771938 by greenestamps(13200)![]() ![]() You can put this solution on YOUR website! \n" ); document.write( "The number of cans in a pile with n cans on the bottom row is \n" ); document.write( "S = 1 + 2 + 3 + ... + (n-1) + n \n" ); document.write( "The sum of the integers from 1 to n is \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "(a) S = 3240 \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "Solve by inspection: 80(81) = 6480, so n = 80. \n" ); document.write( "(b) \n" ); document.write( "(c) S = 2100 \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "The solution to that equation is not an integer, so there can't be that many cans in the pile. \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " |