The famous mathematician associated with finding the sum of the first 100 natural numbers is
Pythagoras
Newton
Gauss
Euclid
When Gauss was a small schoolboy, his teacher asked the class to add all the numbers from 1 to 100.
Instead of adding one by one, Gauss thought of a smart trick:
He paired the first and last numbers:
\(1 + 100 = 101\)
Then the second and the second-last numbers:
\(2 + 99 = 101\)
Similarly, \(3 + 98 = 101\), and so on.
He noticed that every pair adds up to 101.
There are 50 such pairs (because 100 numbers make 50 pairs).
So the total sum is:
\(50 \times 101 = 5050\)
This clever method is why Gauss is remembered for this problem.