MathCastle
Statistics & DataSuperchallengeCenter and Spread

Center and Spread · Superchallenge problem

Let f(c)=∑k=120∣c−k2∣f(c) = \displaystyle\sum_{k=1}^{20} \left| c - k^2 \right|, the total distance from cc to the twenty values 1,4,9,…,4001, 4, 9, \ldots, 400. What is the smallest value f(c)f(c) can take?