I just love this! So simple, yet most of us wouldn't think of doing it like this.
When I was 15 we got this very question in a mathematics exam. It was, I think, the very last question and I imagine that we weren't expected to be able to do it. But I actually got it correct. However, I didn't do it like Gauss did (I'm not as gifted as Gauss). I added 0 to 9, which is 45. To add all the units it'll therefore be 10 times that = 450. I carried out the same precedure to all the 10's columns, so you get 450 * 10 = 4500. Add together 4500 + 450 = 4950. I even remembered to add the 100 at the end! 4950 + 100 = 5,500. Everyone else I talked to either guessed the answer, or forlornly tried adding up each number in turn!
