Episode 7: Gauss and Triangular Numbers [#MathChops]


The mythology behind this fairly simple proof is what makes it one of the most popular proofs in math classes across the world. The story follows a young Carl Friedrich Gauss, whose first grade teacher asked the class to add up the numbers 1 to 100 in order to pass a good amount of time. Before the teacher had time to start grading papers, Gauss handed in his assignment. Watch the video to find out Gauss’ observation that is now one of the most famous math proofs out there.



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