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A Square and A Cube

What cubes end in, and what they add up to

Odd numbers added in order from 1 made squares. In groups, they make cubes too.

Group 1: the number 1.
Step 1 of 4
  1. Group 1: the number 1.
  2. Group 2: 3 and 5.
  3. Group 3: 7, 9 and 11.
  4. Group 4: 13, 15, 17 and 19.

Rule: Take the odd numbers in order. Group them 1, then 2, then 3, and so on. The n-th group adds up to n cubed.

Here n is the number of the group. The 3rd group is 7 + 9 + 11 = 27 = 3³.

The first ten groups use 55 odd numbers. The 55th odd number is 109, so group 11 starts at 111. The eleven odd numbers from 111 to 131 form the eleventh group. Their sum is 11³ = 1331.

The last digit of each cube from 0³ to 9³
nn³Ends in
000
111
288
3277
4644
51255
62166
73433
85122
97299

Every digit appears once as a last digit. So no last digit rules out a cube. Zeros at the end of a cube come in threes. 1000 has three. 100 has two, so it is not a cube.

Slide n. Add the odd numbers. See the cube.

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This track

  1. 0 Start here
  2. 1 A number you can draw as a square
  3. 2 Each new layer is the next odd number
  4. 3 A test that can only say no
  5. 4 Going back to the side you started from
  6. 5 Pairing the primes finds the side
  7. 6 Checkpoint: squares, the staircase and roots
  8. 7 When no whole number fits
  9. 8 A cube number counts real cubes
  10. 9 What cubes end in, and what they add up to
  11. 10 Grouping the primes in threes
  12. 11 Which count is the job asking for
  13. 12 Checkpoint: in between, cubes and cube roots
  14. 13 The big picture
  15. 14 Track quiz

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