Project Euler 044

Pentagon Numbers

Pentagonal numbers are generated by the formula, Pn = n(3n-1)/2. The first ten pentagonal numbers are:

1, 5, 12, 22, 35, 51, 70, 92, 117, 145, ...

It can be seen that P4 + P7 = 22 + 70 = 92 = P8. However, their difference 70 - 22 = 48, is not pentagonal.

Find the pair of pentagonal numbers, Pj and Pk, for which their sum and difference are pentagonal and D = |Pk - Pj| is minimised; what is the value of D?

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