There are ten positive integers less than 1000 that cannot be written as the sum of
consecutive natural numbers.
For example, 9 = 4 + 5, 10 = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4,
11 = 5 + 6, and 12 = 3 + 4 + 5.
The first two numbers that cannot be written as the sum of consecutive natural numbers are 1 and 2. Can you find the other eight exceptions?
Solution to the Problem:
The answer is all the powers of 2:
1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512.
Correctly solved by:
| 1. John C. Funk | Ventura, California |
| 2. David & Judy Dixon | Bennettsville, South Carolina |
| 3. Richard K. Johnson | La Jolla, California |
| 4. Les Walker | Ventura, California |