This task previously appeared on the main
NRICH site, with solutions as follows:
Thank you for these solutions to Shahnawaz Abdullah; Daniel, Liceo
Scientifico Copernico, Torino, Italy; Anderthan, Saratoga High
School; Andrei, School 205, Bucharest, Romania; David, Queen Mary's
Grammar School, Walsall; Paddy, Peter, Greshams School, Holt,
Norfolk; Ngoc Tran, Nguyen Truong To High School (Vietnam); Chris,
St. Bees School; Dorothy, Madras College; A Ji and Hyeyoun, St.
Paul's Girls' School; and Yatir from Israel.
To prove that k \times k! = (k+1)! - k!. If we take k! out as a
factor from the right hand side of the equation, we are left with
k! \times ((k+1)-1) which simplifies to k \times k!, as
required.
Now we sum the series 1 \times 1!+.....n \times n! As we have
proved, n \times n! is equal to (n+1)! - n! and therefore
(n-1) \times (n-1)! is equal to (n-1+1)! - (n-1)! which
simplifies to n! - (n-1)!.
If we add the two results, we find that n! cancels. If we sum the
series from 1 to n, we find that all of the terms cancel except
for (n+1)! and -(1!). Thus the sum of all numbers of the form
r \times r! from 1 to n is equal to (n+1)! - 1.