Count Ways to Express a Number as a Sum of Consecutive Natural Numbers | Coding Interview | Maths

In this article, we will discuss another problem under the maths category. This is a little tricky problem which I will try to simplify. It was recently asked in an interview by DE SHAW.

Present ways to represent a number as a sum of consecutive natural numbers.

If you are preparing for an interview, you might find this article useful.

30 Days Interview Preparation Plan: 200+ best coding questions and Behavioural interviews

Table of Contents

• Definition
• Solution
• Codes
• Time & Space Complexity

Definition

We are given a number N, and we want the count of ways we can represent N as a sum of consecutive natural numbers.

For example, if N = 3, then we want to know the total number of ways we can represent 3 as a sum of some consecutive natural numbers. In this case, the answer is 1 because the way to represent 3 is (1 + 2).

Example 1:
Input: 15
Output: 3
Explanation: There are 3 ways to…