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Algebra Difficulty 4.7 AIME Find the answer

Compute 1002+992982972+962+952942932++42+322212100^{2}+99^{2}-98^{2}-97^{2}+96^{2}+95^{2}-94^{2}-93^{2}+\ldots+4^{2}+3^{2}-2^{2}-1^{2}

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(n+3)^{2}-(n+2)^{2}-(n+1)^{2}+n^{2}=4 for every nn. Therefore, adding 020^{2} to the end of the given sum and applying this identity for every four consecutive terms after 1002100^{2}, we see that the given sum is equivalent to 1002+254=10100100^{2}+25 \cdot 4=10100. Alternatively, we can apply the difference-of-squares factorization to rewrite 1002982=(10098)(100+98)=2(100+98),992972=(9997)(99+97)=2(99+97)100^{2}-98^{2}=(100-98)(100+98)=2(100+98), 99^{2}-97^{2}=(99-97)(99+97)=2(99+97), etc. Thus, the given sum is equivalent to 2(100+99++2+1)=21001012=101002(100+99+\cdots+2+1)=2 \cdot \frac{100 \cdot 101}{2}=10100

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