I'm trying to find the ratio of the number of atoms in the core of a nanoparticle, and the outermost shell with each shell containing:
$10k^2+2$ atoms
Then the total number up to the $k^{th}$ shell is (I believe)
$\sum\limits_{n=1}^{k-1}(10(k-n)^2+2)$
It's this expression I'm stuck on. I'm not 100% on what I'm allowed to do to evaluate this summation. I couldn't find much about operations on summations when I went looking.
Is this expression equivalent?
$10\bigg(\sum\limits_{n=1}^{k-1}k^2+\sum\limits_{n=1}^{k-1}n^2-\sum\limits_{n=1}^{k-1}2kn\bigg)+\sum\limits_{n=1}^{k-1}2$
If so how can I evaluate these?
Edit: Note, errors fixed thanks to Gerry's advice in his answer
Answer
Remember $(k-n)^2=k^2+n^2-2kn$, so you're missing a factor of 2. Also, the 10 doesn't multiply the +2 in the sum, so your last sum shouldn't be in the parentheses.
But you are making it a bit harder than it has to be. Do you see that $$\sum_{n=1}^{k-1}(10(k-n)^2+2)=\sum_{n=1}^{k-1}(10n^2+2)$$ On the left, as $n$ goes from $1$ to $k-1$, $k-n$ goes from $k-1$ to $1$, so the form on the right adds up the same numbers.
Now all you need is the formula for $\sum_{n=1}^{k-1}n^2$, which you can find in any number of places. .
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