Cancellation in big sums

 One prominent trick to find a huge sum is to look for something that cancels. We take the example of the following problem with this key idea in mind:


For positive integers p and q, let f(pq)=(pq+p+q)(pq). Find f(10)+f(11)++f(98)+f(99) (2017 CMC 12A #11)


We try to cancel stuff. For this purpose, we observe that f(pq)=f(qp). This is quite useful because, now, terms like f(pq) and f(qp) all cancel! So which terms are left? The ones in which p=q and the ones with q=0. The ones with p=q are 0 anyway, so we don't have to worry about them. The ones with q=0 turn out to be f(p0)=p2, so the resultant sum is just 12+22++92=285.

 

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