Skip to main content
OlympiadHQ

Browse · MATH

Print

jmc

algebra senior

Problem

For a positive integer , the triangular number is

For example, , so the third triangular number is 6.

Determine the smallest integer such that for some positive integer .
Solution
The left side of the equation, , gives which simplifies to That is, is equal to , a triangular number.

Since , we are looking for the the smallest triangular number greater than 2012.

After some trial and error, we observe that and , and so or is the smallest value that works.
Final answer
2015