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Fascinating Triangular Numbers By Shyam

Sunder Gupta
Shyam Sunder Gupta: guptass@rediffmail.com
Fascinating Triangular Numbers

The numbers which can be arranged in a compact triangular pattern are termed as
triangular numbers. The triangular numbers are formed by partial sum of the series
1+2+3+4+5+6+7......+n. So

T1 =1
T2 =1+2=3
T3 =1+2+3=6
T4 = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10

So the n th triangular number can be obtained as T n = n*(n+1)/2, where n is any natural


number.In other words triangular numbers form the series 1,3,6,10,15,21,28.....

Flocks of birds often fly in this triangular formation. Even several airplanes when flying
together constitute this formation. The properties of such numbers were first studied by
ancient Greek mathematicians, particularly the Pythagoreans.
Have you heard of the following famous story about the famous mathematician Carl F.
Gauss.

" The teacher asked everyone in the class to find the sum of all the numbers from 1 to
100. To everybody’s surprise, Gauss stood up with the answer 5050 immediately. The
teacher asked him as to how it was done. Gauss explained that instead of adding all the
numbers from 1 to 100, add first and last term i.e. 1 + 100 =101, then add second and
second last term i.e. 2 + 99 =101 and so on. Every pair sum is 101 and their will be 50
such pairs ( total 100 numbers in all to be added), so 101 * 50 = 5050 is the answer. So
the sum of numbers from 1 to N is (N/2)*(N+1), where N/2 are the number of pairs and
N+1 is sum of each pair. This the famous formula for n th triangular number."

Some of the interesting properties of triangular numbers published in [5] are:

Curious properties of Triangular Numbers:


The sum of two consecutive triangular numbers is always a square:

T1 + T2 = 1 + 3 = 4 = 22
T2 + T3 = 3 + 6 = 9 = 32

If T is a Triangular number than 9*T + 1 is also a Triangular number:

9*T 1 + 1 = 9 * 1 + 1 = 10 = T 4
9*T 2 + 1 = 9 * 3 + 1 = 28 = T 7

A Triangular number can never end in 2, 4, 7 or 9:

If T is a Triangular number than 8*T + 1 is always a perfect square:

8*T 1 + 1 = 8 * 1 + 1 = 9 = 3 2
8*T 2 + 1 = 8 * 3 + 1 = 25 = 5 2

The digital root (i.e. ultimate sum of digits until a single digit is obtained) of
triangular numbers is always 1,3,6 or 9.

The sum of n consecutive cubes starting from 1 is equal to the square of n th


triangular number i.e. T n 2 = 1 3 + 2 3 + 3 3 + ... + n 3

T 4 2 = 10 2 = 100 = 1 3 + 2 3 + 3 3 + 4 3
T 5 2 = 15 2 = 225 = 1 3 + 2 3 + 3 3 + 4 3 + 5 3
A triangular number greater than 1, can never be a Cube, a Fourth Power or a Fifth
power.

All perfect numbers are triangular numbers

The square of triangular numbers 1 and 6 produce triangular numbers 1 and 36.

T1 2 = 1 * 1 = 1 = T1
T 3 2 = 6 * 6 = 36 = T 8

Can anybody find the third triangular number whose square is also a triangular number
?.

The numbers in the sequence 1, 11, 111, 1111, 11111,...etc. are all triangular
numbers in base 9.

The only triangular number which is also a prime is 3.

Palindromic Triangular Numbers: Some of the many triangular numbers, which are
also palindromic ( i.e. reading the same forward as well as backward) are 1, 3, 6, 55,
66, 171, 595, 666, 3003, 5995, 8778, 15051, 66066, 617716, 828828, 1269621,
1680861, 3544453, 5073705, 5676765, 6295926, 351335153, 61477416,
178727871, 1264114621, 1634004361 etc. These can be termed as palindromic
triangular numbers. There are 28 Palindromic Triangular numbers below 10 10 . For
more on these numbers visit Patrick De Geest

Reversible Triangular Numbers: Some of the many triangular numbers, whose


reversals are also triangular numbers are
1,3,6,10,55,66,120,153,171,190,300,351,595,630,666,820,3003,5995,8778,15051,
17578,66066,87571,156520,180300,185745,547581,557040,617716,678030,828828,
1269621,1461195,1680861,1851850,3544453,5073705,5676765,5911641,6056940,
6295926,12145056,12517506,16678200,35133153,56440000,60571521,61477416,
65054121,157433640,178727871,188267310,304119453,354911403,1261250200,
1264114621,1382301910,1634004361,1775275491,1945725771 etc. These can be
termed as Reversible triangular numbers. Note that all palindromic triangular
numbers mentioned above are special case of reversible triangular numbers.

Square Triangular Numbers: There are infinitely many triangular numbers, which
are also squares as given by the series 1, 36, 1225, 41616, 1413721, 48024900,
1631432881, 55420693056 etc. These can be termed as Square triangular(ST)
numbers. The n th Square Triangular number K n can easily be obtained from the
recursive formula

K n = 34 * K n-1 - K n-2 + 2.

So knowing the first two ST numbers i.e. K 1 = 1 and K 2 = 36 , all other successive
Square Triangular numbers can be obtained , e.g.

K 3 = 34 * K 2 - K 1 + 2 = 34 * 36 -1 + 2 = 1225

K 4 = 34 * K 3 - K 2 + 2 = 34 * 1225 - 36 + 2 = 41616

The following non- recursive formula also gives n th Square Triangular number in
terms of variable n.

K n = [{(1 + 2 ½ ) 2n - (1 - 2 ½ ) 2n }/(4*2 ½ )] 2

It is interesting to note that digital root of all EVEN Square Triangular Numbers i.e.
36, 41616, 48024900, 55420693056 .. etc is always 9 and digital root of all ODD Square
Triangular Numbers i.e. 1, 1225, 1413721, 1631432881, ... etc is always 1. Also Square
Triangular Numbers can never end in 2, 3, 4, 7, 8 or 9.

There are pairs of triangular numbers such that the sum and difference of numbers in
each pair are also triangular numbers e.g. (15, 21), (105, 171), (378, 703), (780,
990), (1485, 4186), (2145, 3741), (5460, 6786), (7875, 8778)... etc.:

21 + 15 = 36 = T 8 : 21 - 15 = 6 = T 3

171 + 105 = 276 = T 23 : 171 - 105 = 66 = T 11

703 + 378 = 1081 = T 46 : 703 - 378 = 325 = T 25

and so on.

Some New Observations on Triangular Numbers :


There are some triangular numbers which are product of three consecutive numbers.
For example 120 is a triangular number which is product of three consecutive
numbers 5, 6 and 7.There are only 6 such triangular numbers ,largest of which is
258474216, as shown below:
1 * 2 * 3 = 6 = T3

4 * 5 * 6 = 120 = T 15

5 * 6 * 7 = 210 = T 20

9 * 10 * 11 = 990 = T 44

56 * 57 * 58 = 185136 = T 608

636 * 637 * 638 = 258474216 = T 22736

The triangular number 120 is the product of three, four and five consecutive
numbers.

4 * 5 * 6 = 2 * 3 * 4 * 5 = 1 * 2 * 3 * 4 * 5 = 120

No other triangular number is known to be the product of four or more consecutive


numbers.

There are some triangular numbers which are product of two consecutive numbers.
For example 6 is a triangular number which is product of two consecutive numbers 2
and 3. Some others are as shown below:

2 * 3 = 6 = T3

14 * 15 = 210 = T 20

84 * 85 = 7140 = T 119

492 * 493 = 242556 = T 696

2870 * 2871 = 8239770 = T 4059

16730 * 16731 = 279909630 = T 23660

97512 * 97513 = 9508687656 = T 137903

568344 * 568345 = 323015470680 = T 803760


3312554 * 3312555 = 10973017315470 = T 4684659

19306982 * 19306983 = 372759573255306 = T 27304196

The triangular numbers which are product of two prime numbers can be termed as
Triangular Semiprimes . For example 6 is a Triangular Semiprimes . Some other
examples of Triangular Semiprimes are:
10,15,21,55,91,253,703,1081,1711,1891,2701,3403,5671,12403,13861,15931,
18721,25651,34453,38503,49141,60031,64261,73153,79003,88831,104653,108811,
114481,126253,146611,158203,171991,188191,218791,226801,258121,269011,286903,
351541,371953,385003,392941,482653,497503 etc as shown below:

2 * 3 = 6 = T3

3 * 5 = 15 = T 5

3 * 7 = 21 = T 6

5 * 11 = 55 = T 10

7 * 13 = 91 = T 13

11 * 23 = 253 = T 22

19 * 37 = 703 = T 37

Harshad Triangular Numbers:

Harshad (or Niven ) numbers are those numbers which are divisible by their
sum of the digits. For example 1729 ( 19*91) is divisible by 1+7+2+9 =19, so
1729 is a Harshad number.

Harshad Triangular Number can be defined as the Triangular numbers which are
divisible by the sum of their digits. For example, Triangular number 1128 is
divisible by 1+1+2+8 = 12 (i.e. 1128/12 = 94). So 1128 is a Harshad Triangular
Number. Other examples are:

1, 3, 6, 10, 21, 36, 45, 120, 153, 171, 190, 210, 300, 351, 378, 465, 630, 666, 780, 820, 990, 1035,
1128, 1275, 1431, 1540, 1596, 1770, 2016, 2080, 2556, 2628, 2850, 2926, 3160, 3240, 3321, 3486,
3570, 4005, 4465, 4560, 4950, 5050, 5460, 5565, 5778, 5886, 7140, 7260, 8001, 8911, 9180, 10011,
10296, 10440, 11175, 11476, 11628, 12720, 13041, 13203, 14196, 14706, 15225, 15400, 15576,
16110, 16290, 16653, 17020, 17205, 17766, 17955, 18145, 18528, 20100, 21321, 21528, 21736,
21945, 22155, 23220, 23436, 24090, 24310, 24976, 25200, 28680, 29646, 30628, 31626, 32640,
33930, 35245, 36585, 37128, 39060, 40470, 41328, 41616, 43365, 43956, 45150, 46360, 51040, 51360,
51681, 52326, 52650, 53956, 56280, 56616, 61776, 63903, 64620, 65341, 67896, 69006, 70125, 70500,
72010, 73536, 73920, 76636, 78210, 79401, 79800, 80200,81810, 88410, 89676, 90100, 93096, 93528,
97020, 100128, 101025, 103740, 105111, 105570 etc.

Happy Triangular Numbers:

If you iterate the process of summing the squares of the decimal digits of a
number and if the process terminates in 1, then the original number is called a
Happy number. For example 7 -> 49 -> 97 -> 130 -> 10 -> 1.

A Happy Triangular Number is defined as a Triangular number which is also a


Happy number. For example, consider a triangular number 946, where 946 ->
133 -> 19 -> 82 -> 68 -> 100 -> 1. So 946 is a Happy triangular Number. Other
examples of Happy Triangular Numbers are :
1, 10, 28, 91, 190, 496, 820, 946, 1128, 1275, 2080, 2211, 2485, 3321, 4278, 8128, 8256, 8778, 9591,
9730, 11476, 12090, 12880, 13203, 13366, 13530, 15753, 16471, 17205, 17578, 20910, 21115,
21321, 22791, 24753, 25651, 27261, 29890, 30135, 31626, 33670, 35245, 36046, 41328, 43660,
43956, 44253, 46360, 47586, 48205, 50721, 53301, 53956, 54615, 55278, 56280, 56953, 58311,
61425, 62128, 66430, 69378, 69751, 70125, 75855, 76245, 77815, 79003, 80200, 81810, 82621,
84666, 87571, 90100, 90951, 93961, 99681, 100128, 101025, 102831, 103285, 105570, 107416,
110215, 117370, 119316, 122760, 123256, 123753, 126253, 127260, 129286, 130305 etc.

The only Fibonacci Numbers that are also triangular are 1, 3, 21 and 55.

The only triangular Numbers that are also repdigit are 55, 66 and 666.

3 is the only triangular Number that is also a Fermat Number.

Every Hexagonal number is a triangular number.

Every pentagonal number is one-third of a triangular number.

If M is a Mersenne prime then M th triangular number is a perfect number.

The sum of reciprocals of triangular numbers converges to 2:

1 + 1/3 + 1/6 + 1/10 + 1/15 + 1/21 + 1/28 + 1/36 + 1/45 + ....= 2

There are many pairs of triangular numbers T a and T b (where T a > 1 and T b
> and T a is not equal to T b ) such that their product T a *T b is a Perfect Square.
For example:
T 2 * T 24 = 3 * 300 = 900 = 30 2

T 2 * T 242 = 3 * 29403 = 88209 = 297 2

T 3 * T 48 = 6 * 1176 = 7056 = 84 2

T 6 * T 168 = 21 * 14196 = 298116 = 546 2

T 11 * T 528 = 66 * 139656 = 9217296 = 3036 2

T 12 * T 624 = 78 * 195000 = 15210000 = 3900 2

Every positive integer can be written as a sum of atmost three triangular


numbers.

Every 4 th power greater than 1, is the sum of two triangular numbers.

2 4 = 16 = T 3 + T 4 = T 1 + T 5

3 4 = 81 = T 8 + T 9 = T 5 + T 11

4 4 = 256 = T 15 + T 16 = T 11 + T 19

5 4 = 625 = T 24 + T 25 = T 19 + T 29

6 4 = 1296 = T 35 + T 36 = T 29 + T 41

7 4 = 2401 = T 48 + T 49 = T 41 + T 55

Observe the patterns formed above.

For any natural number n, the number 1 + 9 + 9 2 + 9 3 + ... + 9 n is a triangular


number.

1 = T1

1 + 9 = T4

1 + 9 + 9 2 = T 13
1 + 9 + 9 2 + 9 3 = T 40

1 + 9 + 9 2 + 9 3 + 9 4 = T 121

A curious pattern :

T1 + T2 + T3 = T4

T 5 + T 6 + T 7 + T 8 = T 9 + T 10

T 11 + T 12 + T 13 + T 14 + T 15 = T 16 + T 17 + T 18

T 19 + T 20 + T 21 + T 22 + T 23 + T 24 = T 25 + T 26 + T 27 + T 28

Some identities :

T n 2 = T n + T n-1 * T n+1

T n 2 -1 = 2*T n * T n-1

For more on such identities visit Terry Trotter

Triangular numbers appear in Pascal’s Triangle. In fact 3rd diagonal of


Pascal’s Triangle, gives all triangular numbers as shown below:

1
11
121
1331
14641
1 5 10 10 5 1
1 6 15 20 15 6 1
1 7 21 35 35 21 7 1
1 8 28 56 70 56 28 8 1
1 9 36 84 126 126 84 36 9 1

One example of a Pythagorean triangle (a,b,c) where a, b, c are triangular


numbers is (8778, 10296, 13530)
8778 2 + 10296 2 = 13530 2

(T 132 ) 2 + (T 143 ) 2 = (T 164 ) 2

Can you find other examples ? For more visit Carlos Rivera.

T 8 + T 35 + T 23 = T 9 + T 21 + T 36

8 + 35 + 23 = 9 + 21 + 36

Sum of Consecutive Triangular Numbers:

T 28 + T 29 + T 30 + ... + T 34 = T 83

T 118 + T 119 + T 120 + ... + T 128 = T 322

T 16 + T 17 + T 18 + T 19 = 2*T 25

T 103 + T 104 + T 105 + T 106 = 2*T 148

Observe this pattern of infinite triangular numbers.

T 10 = T 5+5 = 55

T 100 = T 50+50 = 5050

T 1000 = T 500+500 = 500500

T 10000 = T 5000+5000 = 50005000

T 100000 = T 50000+50000 = 5000050000

T 1000000 = T 500000+500000 = 500000500000 and so on.

T T 5 + T T 6 = T 26

T T 12 + T T 14 = T 61

T T 77 + T T 89 = T 376

T T 174 + T T 201 = T 871


T T 1079 + T T 1249 = T 5396

T T 2430 + T T 2806 = T 12151 and so on.

Highly Composite Triangular Numbers:

Numbers such that d(n), the number of divisors of n, is greater than for any
smaller n are called highly composite numbers. If n is a triangular number then
it can be termed as Highly Composite Triangular Number . For example 28 is a
triangular number and d(28) = 6 . Number of divisors of all triangular numbers
less than 28 is less than 6. So 28 is a Highly Composite Triangular number.

All Highly Composite Triangular numbers below 5*10 13 are:


1, 3, 6, 28, 36, 120, 300, 528, 630, 2016, 3240, 5460, 25200, 73920, 157080, 437580, 749700,
1385280, 1493856, 2031120, 2162160, 17907120, 76576500, 103672800, 236215980, 842161320,
3090906000, 4819214400, 7589181600, 7966312200, 13674528000, 20366564400, 49172323200,
78091322400, 102774672000, 557736444720, 666365279580, 876785263200, 1787835551040,
2427046221600, 3798207594720, 24287658595200 and 26571463158240.

Abundant and Deficient Triangular Numbers:

Numbers such that s(n), the sum of aliquot divisors of n, is greater than n are
called Abundant numbers. If n is a triangular number then it can be termed as
Abundant Triangular Number . For example 36 is a triangular number and s(36) = 1
+ 2 + 3 + 4 + 6 + 9 + 12 + 18 = 55, which is greater than 36. So 36 is a Abundant
Triangular number.

All Abundant Triangular numbers below 10 5 are:


36,66,78,120,210,276,300,378,528,630,666,780,820,990,1128,1176,1326,1540,1596,
1770,1830,2016,2080,2346,2556,2628,2850,3160,3240,3486,3570,3828,4095,4278,
4560,4656,4950,5460,5778,5886,6216,6328,6786,7140,7260,7626,7875,8256,8646,
8778,9180,9730,9870,10296,10440,10878,11628,12090,12246,12720,12880,13530,
14028,14196,14706,15400,15576,16110,16290,16836,17020,17766,17955,18336,18528,
19110,19900,20100,20706,20910,21528,21736,21945,22578,23220,23436,24090,24310,
24976,25200,25878,26106,26565,26796,27966,28680,28920,29646,29890,30628,30876,
31626,31878,32640,33670,33930,34716,34980,35778,37128,37950,38226,39060,39340,
40470,41328,41616,42486,43660,43956,44850,45150,46056,46360,47586,48516,48828,
49770,51040,51360,52326,52650,53628,53956,54285,55278,56280,56616,57630,57970,
58996,59340,60378,60726,61425,61776,62128,63546,64620,64980,66066,66430,67896,
69006,69378,70500,72390,73536,73920,75078,76636,77028,78210,78606,79800,80200,
81810,82215,83028,83436,84666,86320,86736,87990,88410,89676,90100,91806,93096,
93528,94830,96580,97020,98346 and 98790.
Numbers such that s(n), the sum of aliquot divisors of n, is less than n are called
Deficient numbers. If n is a triangular number then it can be termed as Deficient
Triangular Number . For example 21 is a triangular number and s(21) = 1 + 3 + 7
= 11, which is less than 21. So 21 is a Deficient Triangular number.

All Deficient Triangular numbers below 10 5 are:


1,3,10,15,21,45,55,91,105,136,153,171,190,231,253,325,351,406,435,465,
561,595,703,741,861,903,946,1035,1081,1225,1275,1378,1431,1485,1653,1711,
1891,1953,2145,2211,2278,2415,2485,2701,2775,2926,3003,3081,3321,3403,3655,
3741,3916,4005,4186,4371,4465,4753,4851,5050,5151,5253,5356,5565,5671,5995,
6105,6441,6555,6670,6903,7021,7381,7503,7750,8001,8385,8515,8911,9045,
9316,9453,9591,10011,10153,10585,10731,11026,11175,11325,11476,11781,11935,
12403,12561,13041,13203,13366,13695,13861,14365,14535,14878,15051,15225,15753,
15931,16471,16653,17205,17391,17578,18145,18721,18915,19306,19503,19701,20301,
20503,21115,21321,22155,22366,22791,23005,23653,23871,24531,24753,25425,25651,
26335,27028,27261,27495,27730,28203,28441,29161,29403,30135,30381,31125,31375,
32131,32385,32896,33153,33411,34191,34453,35245,35511,36046,36315,36585,36856,
37401,37675,38503,38781,39621,39903,40186,40755,41041,41905,42195,42778,43071,
43365,44253,44551,45451,45753,46665,46971,47278,47895,48205,49141,49455,50086,
50403,50721,51681,52003,52975,53301,54615,54946,55611,55945,56953,57291,58311,
58653,59685,60031,61075,62481,62835,63190,63903,64261,65341,65703,66795,67161,
67528,68265,68635,69751,70125,70876,71253,71631,72010,72771,73153,74305,74691,
75466,75855,76245,77421,77815,79003,79401,80601,81003,81406,82621,83845,84255,
85078,85491,85905,87153,87571,88831,89253,90525,90951,91378,92235,92665,93961,
94395,95266,95703,96141,97461,97903,99235 and 99681.

Curious Sum of Two Triangular Numbers.

Take an example of a 10-digit Triangular number 1061444835. It can be seen


that this triangular number is the sum of the 10614 th and 44835 th triangular
numbers. So the sum of two triangular numbers is equal to the number formed
from concatenation of index of these two triangular numbers.

T 10614 + T 44835 = 1061444835

Other examples are:

T 90 + T 415 = 90415

T 585 + T 910 = 585910

T 120 + T 1545 = 1201545


T 150 + T 1726 = 1501726

T 244 + T 2196 = 2442196

T 700 + T 3676 = 7003676

T 769 + T 3846 = 7693846

T 1474 + T 5226 = 14745226

T 2829 + T 6970 = 28296970

T 3030 + T 7171 = 30307171 and so on.

Can you observe beautiful pattern in last two examples.

If you find any new and interesting observation about triangular numbers, please
email me.
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References:
[1] Ball, W. W. R. and Coxeter, H. S. M. Mathematical Recreations and Essays, 13th ed. New York:
Dover, p. 59, 1987.

[2] Beiler, Albert H. Recreations in the Theory of Numbers. New York: Dover, 1966.

[3] Conway, J. H. and Guy, R. K. The Book of Numbers. New York: Springer-Verlag, pp. 33-38,
1996.

[4] Dudeney, H. E. Amusements in Mathematics. New York: Dover, pp. 67 and 167, 1970.

[5] Gupta, Shyam Sunder "Curious Properties of triangular numbers." Science Reporter ,
September 1987, India.

[6] Guy, R. K. Unsolved Problems in Number Theory, 2nd ed. New York: Springer-Verlag,
pp. 136-138 and 147-150, 1994.

[7] Le Lionnais, F. Les nombres remarquables. Paris: Hermann, 1983.

[8] Madachy, Joseph S. Madachy’s Mathematical Recreations. New York: Dover, 1979.
[9] Pickover, Clifford A. Wonders of Numbers. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.

[10] Sloane, N. J. A. and Plouffe, S. The Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences. San Diego, CA:
Academic Press, 1995.

[11] Trotter, T. Jr. "Some Identities for the Triangular Numbers." J. Recr. Math. 6, 128-135, 1973.
http://www.trottermath.net/numthry/trident.html.

[12] Wells, David. The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers. Middlesex, England:
Penguin Books, 1997.

[13] Wells, David. The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Geometry. London: Penguin
Books, 1991.

This page is created on 26 Oct, 2002.

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