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Math question of the day

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    Math question of the day

    Mrs Miggins (the class teacher) asked the class to see if they could calculate the sum of the first 35 odd numbers.


    The class started to work on the answer and quick as a flash the young sasguru ran to her and said, 'The sum is 1,225.'

    Mrs Miggins thought, 'Wow, lucky guess,' and gave young sassy the task of finding the sum of the first 75 odd numbers. Within 10 seconds, sasguru was back with the correct answer.

    How did the young, gifted, super intelligent sasguru find the sum so quickly and what is the answer ??

    #2
    He googled it?
    Originally posted by Stevie Wonder Boy
    I can't see any way to do it can you please advise?

    I want my account deleted and all of my information removed, I want to invoke my right to be forgotten.

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by SimonMac View Post
      He googled it?
      They didn't have Google in 1975

      Comment


        #4
        You square the number, not entirely sure why yet though

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by DimPrawn View Post
          Mrs Miggins (the class teacher) asked the class to see if they could calculate the sum of the first 35 odd numbers.


          The class started to work on the answer and quick as a flash the young sasguru ran to her and said, 'The sum is 1,225.'

          Mrs Miggins thought, 'Wow, lucky guess,' and gave young sassy the task of finding the sum of the first 75 odd numbers. Within 10 seconds, sasguru was back with the correct answer.

          How did the young, gifted, super intelligent sasguru find the sum so quickly and what is the answer ??
          That apocryphal story is usually ascribed to the young Gauss.
          I'm glad you're taking an interest in Maths though.
          Hard Brexit now!
          #prayfornodeal

          Comment


            #6
            It's to do with the property of arithmetic series that the mean of the entire series is the mean of the first and last number in the series.

            For k + 1 numbers, we have the sum 1 + 3 + ... + 2k + 1. The mean for all the numbers in this sum is ( 2k + 1 + 1 ) / 2 = k + 1. So the sum is the mean x the number of numbers = ( k + 1 ) ( k + 1) -> obviously square.

            For some reason people are drawn to Gauss. It's his magnetic personality.
            Down with racism. Long live miscegenation!

            Comment


              #7
              Mrs Miggins (the class teacher) asked the class to see if they could calculate the sum of the first 35 odd numbers.

              The class started to work on the answer and quick as a flash the young sasguru ran to her and said, 'The sum is 1,225.'

              Mrs Miggins thought, 'Wow, lucky guess,' and gave young sassy the task of finding the sum of the first 75 odd numbers. Within 10 seconds, sasguru was back with the correct answer.

              How did the young, gifted, super intelligent sasguru find the sum so quickly and what is the answer ??
              Easy peasy (for young Sasguru).

              To find the sum of the positive odd integers less than 2n he just added the cubes of the positive integers up to n, took the positive square root of the result, doubled it, and subtracted n.
              Work in the public sector? Read the IR35 FAQ here

              Comment


                #8
                So does that mean Mrs Miggins no longer runs a pie-shop?

                Comment


                  #9
                  I hate the American way of abbreviating mathematics... even worse when they say it
                  How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don't think

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by stek View Post
                    So does that mean Mrs Miggins no longer runs a pie-shop?
                    She's now into cream pies

                    Comment

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