For 32,000 euros: Can you solve this puzzle?

Adding up the sum of the numbers from 1 to 100 results in ...?

At first glance, that does not sound so difficult, right? Adding up all numbers from 1 to 100, that can not really be that complicated!

For candidate Sandra Rößler, this math question was "Who's going to be a millionaire?" nevertheless a stumbling block. After a moment's hesitation, she used her public joker. A good decision: Whole 80 percent of the audience in the studio knew the right answer.

The puzzle solution:

To make the sum of the numbers from 1 to 100 you only have to multiply 101 by 50.

101x50 = 5050

And why does the trick work? If you add up all the numbers you want so that the next highest to the next lowest number is hit (100 + 1, 99 + 2, etc), that always equals 101. If you make 50 of these pairs, you have all the numbers between 1 and 100 "collected" - and it only has to multiply by the sum of 101.

Admittedly: Not the most difficult, but not the simplest math question that Günter Jauch has ever asked. Did you know the answer in case of emergency?

Solving a $10,000 Puzzle Box - Level 10 (One of a kind) (May 2024).