A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.
Solution
Note that (n+3)2−(n+2)2−(n+1)2+n2=4 for every n. Therefore, adding 02 to the end of the given sum and applying this identity for every four consecutive terms after 1002, we see that the given sum is equivalent to 1002+25⋅4=10100. Alternatively, we can apply the difference-of-squares factorization to rewrite 1002−982=(100−98)(100+98)=2(100+98),992−972=(99−97)(99+97)=2(99+97), etc. Thus, the given sum is equivalent to 2(100+99+⋯+2+1)=2⋅2100⋅101=10100
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