For what integer(s) n is the sum of n consecutive positive integers always divisible by n ?
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Relevant wiki: Sum of n, n², or n³
The sum of
n
consecutive numbers is only divisible by
n
when
n
is odd.
Proof
:
Sum of
n
consecutive numbers
=
a
+
(
a
+
1
)
+
(
a
+
2
)
+
(
a
+
3
)
.
.
.
+
(
a
+
(
n
−
1
)
)
=
n
⋅
a
+
∑
t
=
1
n
−
1
t
=
n
⋅
a
+
2
(
n
−
1
)
2
+
(
n
−
1
)
=
n
⋅
(
a
+
2
n
−
1
)
it follows that the sum of
n
consecutive numbers is always divisible by
n
, when
n
−
1
is even, so that the fraction
2
n
−
1
becomes an integer. Therefore the sum of
n
consecutive numbers is only divisible by
n
when
n
is odd.
□
Thanks for sharing this problem, Darius. It is an interesting problem and the solution is nicely written too.
With n odd the sum S n of the first n elements is divisible by n , because n + 1 is even and S n = 2 n ( n + 1 ) = n k , with k integer, so "No values of n satisfy this condition" is discarded. With n = 2 the sum of every two consecutive elements will be odd, then "for every n " and "for every even n " are discarded. Therefore the answer is "for every odd n ".
I know this is not a very nice solution.
So your sum S n would be 1 + 2 + 3 + . . . + n but the question is about consecutive numbers in general and not the sum over the integers up to a certain number n . Therefore you would need to do it somehow like S ( a , b ) = ( 1 + 2 + 3 + . . . + a ) − ( 1 + 2 + 3 + . . . + b ) = 2 a ( a + 1 ) − b ( b + 1 ) = 2 a 2 − b 2 + a − b
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Oh, you're right. I mistakenly thought about " there exists consecutive ..." instead of " for all consecutive ...".
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Relevant wiki: Sum of n, n², or n³
Let S n = n integers n + ( n + 1 ) + ( n + 2 ) + . . . + ( 2 n − 1 ) .
⟹ S n ⟹ n S n = 2 n ( a + l ) where a and l are the first and last integers of the series respectively. = 2 n ( n + 2 n − 1 ) = 2 n ( 3 n − 1 ) = 2 3 n − 1 { n = even n = odd ⟹ 3 n − 1 is odd ⟹ 3 n − 1 is even ⟹ n ∣ S n ⟹ n ∣ S n
Therefore, for every odd n , the sum of n consequent positive integers is always divisible by n .