Question

Prove that

Answer 1

Let's start from what we know.

$(1)\qquad\sum\limits_{k=1}^n1=\underbrace{1+1+\ldots+1}_{n}=n\cdot 1=n\\\\\\ (2)\qquad\sum\limits_{k=1}^nk=1+2+3+\ldots+n=\dfrac{n(n+1)}{2}\quad\text{(arithmetic series)}\\\\\\ (3)\qquad\sum\limits_{k=1}^nk\ \textgreater \ 0\quad\implies\quad\left|\sum\limits_{k=1}^nk\right|=\sum\limits_{k=1}^nk$

Note that:

$\sum\limits_{k=1}^n(-1)^k\cdot k^2=(-1)^1\cdot1^2+(-1)^2\cdot2^2+(-1)^3\cdot3^2+\dots+(-1)^n\cdot n^2=\\\\\\=-1^2+2^2-3^2+4^2-5^2+\dots\pm n^2$

(sign of last term will be + when n is even and - when n is odd).
Sum is finite so we can split it into two sums, first $S_n^+$ with only positive trems (squares of even numbers) and second $S_n^-$ with negative (squares of odd numbers). So:

$\sum\limits_{k=1}^n(-1)^k\cdot k^2=S_n^+-S_n^-$

And now the proof.

1) n is even.

In this case, both $S_n^+$ and $S_n^-$ have $\dfrac{n}{2}$ terms. For example if n=8 then:

$S_8^+=\underbrace{2^2+4^2+6^2+8^2}_{\frac{8}{2}=4}\qquad\text{(even numbers)}\\\\\\ S_8^-=\underbrace{1^2+3^2+5^2+7^2}_{\frac{8}{2}=4}\qquad\text{(odd numbers)}$

Generally, there will be:

$S_n^+=\sum\limits_{k=1}^\frac{n}{2}(2k)^2\\\\\\S_n^-=\sum\limits_{k=1}^\frac{n}{2}(2k-1)^2$

Now, calculate our sum:

$\left|\sum\limits_{k=1}^n(-1)^k\cdot k^2\right|=\left|S_n^+-S_n^-\right|= \left|\sum\limits_{k=1}^\frac{n}{2}(2k)^2-\sum\limits_{k=1}^\frac{n}{2}(2k-1)^2\right|=\\\\\\= \left|\sum\limits_{k=1}^\frac{n}{2}4k^2-\sum\limits_{k=1}^\frac{n}{2}\left(4k^2-4k+1\right)\right|=$

$=\left|4\sum\limits_{k=1}^\frac{n}{2}k^2-4\sum\limits_{k=1}^\frac{n}{2}k^2+4\sum\limits_{k=1}^\frac{n}{2}k-\sum\limits_{k=1}^\frac{n}{2}1\right|=\left|4\sum\limits_{k=1}^\frac{n}{2}k-\sum\limits_{k=1}^\frac{n}{2}1\right|\stackrel{(1),(2)}{=}\\\\\\= \left|4\dfrac{\frac{n}{2}(\frac{n}{2}+1)}{2}-\dfrac{n}{2}\right|=\left|2\cdot\dfrac{n}{2}\left(\dfrac{n}{2}+1\right)-\dfrac{n}{2}\right|=\left|n\left(\dfrac{n}{2}+1\right)-\dfrac{n}{2}\right|=$

$=\left|\dfrac{n^2}{2}+n-\dfrac{n}{2}\right|=\left|\dfrac{n^2}{2}+\dfrac{n}{2}\right|=\left|\dfrac{n^2+n}{2}\right|=\left|\dfrac{n(n+1)}{2}\right|\stackrel{(2)}{=}\\\\\\\stackrel{(2)}{=} \left|\sum\limits_{k=1}^nk\right|\stackrel{(3)}{=}\sum\limits_{k=1}^nk$

So in this case we prove, that:

 $\left|\sum\limits_{k=1}^n(-1)^k\cdot k^2\right|=\sum\limits_{k=1}^nk$

2) n is odd.

Here, $S_n^-$ has more terms than $S_n^+$. For example if n=7 then:

$S_7^-=\underbrace{1^2+3^2+5^2+7^2}_{\frac{n+1}{2}=\frac{7+1}{2}=4}\\\\\\ S_7^+=\underbrace{2^2+4^4+6^2}_{\frac{n+1}{2}-1=\frac{7+1}{2}-1=3}$

So there is $\dfrac{n+1}{2}$ terms in $S_n^-$, $\dfrac{n+1}{2}-1$ terms in $S_n^+$ and:

$S_n^+=\sum\limits_{k=1}^{\frac{n+1}{2}-1}(2k)^2\\\\\\ S_n^-=\sum\limits_{k=1}^{\frac{n+1}{2}}(2k-1)^2$

Now, we can calculate our sum:

$\left|\sum\limits_{k=1}^n(-1)^k\cdot k^2\right|=\left|S_n^+-S_n^-\right|= \left|\sum\limits_{k=1}^{\frac{n+1}{2}-1}(2k)^2-\sum\limits_{k=1}^{\frac{n+1}{2}}(2k-1)^2\right|=\\\\\\= \left|\sum\limits_{k=1}^{\frac{n+1}{2}-1}4k^2-\sum\limits_{k=1}^{\frac{n+1}{2}}\left(4k^2-4k+1\right)\right|=\\\\\\= \left|\sum\limits_{k=1}^{\frac{n-1}{2}-1}4k^2-\sum\limits_{k=1}^{\frac{n+1}{2}}4k^2+\sum\limits_{k=1}^{\frac{n+1}{2}}4k-\sum\limits_{k=1}^{\frac{n+1}{2}}1\right|=$

$=\left|\sum\limits_{k=1}^{\frac{n-1}{2}-1}4k^2-\sum\limits_{k=1}^{\frac{n+1}{2}-1}4k^2-4\left(\dfrac{n+1}{2}\right)^2+\sum\limits_{k=1}^{\frac{n+1}{2}}4k-\sum\limits_{k=1}^{\frac{n+1}{2}}1\right|=\\\\\\= \left|-4\left(\dfrac{n+1}{2}\right)^2+4\sum\limits_{k=1}^{\frac{n+1}{2}}k-\sum\limits_{k=1}^{\frac{n+1}{2}}1\right|\stackrel{(1),(2)}{=}\\\\\\ \stackrel{(1),(2)}{=}\left|-4\dfrac{n^2+2n+1}{4}+4\dfrac{\frac{n+1}{2}\left(\frac{n+1}{2}+1\right)}{2}-\dfrac{n+1}{2}\right|=$

$=\left|-n^2-2n-1+2\cdot\dfrac{n+1}{2}\left(\dfrac{n+1}{2}+1\right)-\dfrac{n+1}{2}\right|=\\\\\\= \left|-n^2-2n-1+(n+1)\left(\dfrac{n+1}{2}+1\right)-\dfrac{n+1}{2}\right|=\\\\\\= \left|-n^2-2n-1+\dfrac{(n+1)^2}{2}+n+1-\dfrac{n+1}{2}\right|=\\\\\\= \left|-n^2-n+\dfrac{n^2+2n+1}{2}-\dfrac{n+1}{2}\right|=\\\\\\= \left|-n^2-n+\dfrac{n^2}{2}+n+\dfrac{1}{2}-\dfrac{n}{2}-\dfrac{1}{2}\right|=\left|-\dfrac{n^2}{2}-\dfrac{n}{2}\right|=\left|-\dfrac{n^2+n}{2}\right|=$

$=\left|-\dfrac{n(n+1)}{2}\right|=|-1|\cdot\left|\dfrac{n(n+1)}{2}\right|=\left|\dfrac{n(n+1)}{2}\right|\stackrel{(2)}{=}\left|\sum\limits_{k=1}^nk\right|\stackrel{(3)}{=}\sum\limits_{k=1}^nk$

We consider all possible n so we prove that:

$\forall_{n\in\mathbb{N}}\quad\left|\sum\limits_{k=1}^n(-1)^k\cdot k^2\right|=\sum\limits_{k=1}^nk$