Question 774396
What you are dealing with is the sum of the first n integers from 1 to n or let
(1) Sn = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + ... + n
You can figure out your answer by trial and error (the hard way).
(2) if n = 3; S3 = 1 + 2 + 3 = 6
(3) if n = 6; S6 = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 = 21
You want the sum to be equal to 20 so start at 2 instead of 1 and get
(4) 20 = 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6
Not too hard but not very mathematical. So let me give you a little lesson on sums
given by (1). The formula for (1) is
(5) Sn = n*(n+1)/2
Let's try it for n = 3,
(6) S3 = 3*(3+1)/2 or
(7) S3 = 3*4/2 or
(8) S3 = 6 as given by (2).
Let's try it for n = 6,
(9) S6 = 6*(6+1)/2 or
(10) S6 = 6*7/2 or
(11) S6 = 21 as given by (3).
How about the sum of 1 to 100? Want to add them up or use (5)? While you add I'll use (5) to get
(12) S100 = 100*101/2 or
(13) S100 = 5050
Easy isn't it? Please remember this formula, it will come in handy when you study probability.