Problem 240. Project Euler: Problem 6, Natural numbers, squares and sums.

Created by Doug Hull

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The sum of the squares of the first ten natural numbers is,

1^2 + 2^2 + ... + 10^2 = 385 The square of the sum of the first ten natural numbers is,

(1 + 2 + ... + 10)^2 = 55^2 = 3025 Hence the difference between the sum of the squares of the first ten natural numbers and the square of the sum is 3025 - 385 = 2640.

Find the difference between the sum of the squares of the first N (where N is the input) natural numbers and the square of the sum.

Thank you to Project Euler Problem 6

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Last Solution submitted on Jan 06, 2026

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John D'Errico on 28 Aug 2016

A problem where one must be at least a little careful about floating point arithmetic. It might have been interesting if one of the test cases were x=1e5 or larger. Even more interesting if the execution time were a factor in the "score". These factors might impact how the problem would be best solved.

Srishti Saha on 13 Oct 2018

@ Doug Hall, I have solved all the problems in the series. However, I have not received the badge and the associated scores on completion of the series. Can you please look into this?

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Problem 240. Project Euler: Problem 6, Natural numbers, squares and sums.

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Problem 240. Project Euler: Problem 6, Natural numbers, squares and sums.

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Last 200 Solutions

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Problem Recent Solvers2530

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