=====Answer:===== There are two ways of solving this. For a pretty thorough explanation of the first check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd81F6-Ar_0 Here is a brief explanation of both. ==Method 1== Similar to the Gauss question, add up the digits in each pair of numbers. 0 1 2 3 ... 999996 999997 999998 999999 1000000 ^ ^ 0 1 2 3 ... 999996 999997 999998 999999 1000000 ^ ^ 0 1 2 3 ... 999996 999997 999998 999999 1000000 ^ ^ 0 1 2 3 ... 999996 999997 999998 999999 1000000 ^ ^ etc. 0 + 999999 = 999999 1 + 999998 = 999999 2 + 999997 = 999999 .... Now you have 500000 pairs that sum up to 999999 500000 * (9 + 9 + 9 + 9 + 9 + 9) = 27000000 Don't forget 1 million! 27000000 + 1 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 27000001 ==Method 2== Write each number using 6 digits (i.e. zero extend) 000001 000002 000003 ... 999999 Each digit shows up in each column 100000 times. The sum of the digits 1-9 is 45. 45*100000*6 = 27000000 Plus that last 1 in 1 million 27000000 + 1 = 27000001