Problem:
Positive integers are put into the following table
| 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 21 | 28 | 36 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 20 | 27 | 35 | 44 | ||
| 4 | 8 | 13 | 19 | 26 | 34 | 43 | 53 | ||
| 7 | 12 | 18 | 25 | 33 | 42 | ||||
| 11 | 17 | 24 | 32 | 41 | |||||
| 16 | 23 | ||||||||
Find the number of the line and column where the number 2015 stays.
Problem:
Positive integers are put into the following table
| 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 21 | 28 | 36 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 20 | 27 | 35 | 44 | ||
| 4 | 8 | 13 | 19 | 26 | 34 | 43 | 53 | ||
| 7 | 12 | 18 | 25 | 33 | 42 | ||||
| 11 | 17 | 24 | 32 | 41 | |||||
| 16 | 23 | ||||||||
Solution:
We shall observe straight lines as on the next picture. We can call these lines diagonals.
| 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 21 | 28 | 36 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 20 | 27 | 35 | 44 | |
| 4 | 8 | 13 | 19 | 26 | 34 | 43 | 53 | |
| 7 | 12 | 18 | 25 | 33 | 42 | |||
| 11 | 17 | 24 | 32 | 41 |

On the first diagonal is number .
On the second diagonal are two numbers: and .
On the third diagonal are three numbers: , and .
On the -th diagonal are numbers. These numbers are greater than and not greater than .
On the first diagonals are numbers.
If is in the -th row, -th column and on the -th diagonal, then it is and . So, .
We have to find such numbers , and for which:
From (1), (2), (3):
So so (but this is not possible, so check calculation).
Actually, , so .
But , .
So , .
So , , so .
Therefore, is located in the second row and -th column.
Firstly, we can see that the first elements of the columns are triangular numbers. If is the first element of the line , we have .
The second element of the first row is obtained by adding to the first element .
The second element of the second row is obtained by adding to the first element .
And so on, then the second element on the -th row is obtained by adding to the first element .
Then the third element of the -th row is obtained by adding , and the -th element of it is obtained by adding .
Since the first element of the -th row is , the second one is .
The third one , so the -th one should be .
To have a positive integer solution, must be a perfect square.
From , it is noticed that the maximum of is (since ).
Simultaneously, is odd, so .
So , from that .
From that we can find .
So is located on the second row and -th column.