Find the sum of the first $n$ terms of $\sum^n_{k=1}k^3$ The question:
Find the sum of the first $n$ terms of $$\sum^n_{k=1}k^3$$
[Hint: consider $(k+1)^4-k^4$]
[Answer: $\frac{1}{4}n^2(n+1)^2$]
My solution:
$$\begin{align}
\sum^n_{k=1}k^3&=1^3+2^3+3^3+4^3+\cdots+(n-1)^3+n^3\\
&=\frac{n}{2}[\text{first term} + \text{last term}]\\
&=\frac{n(1^3+n^3)}{2}
\end{align}$$
What am I doing wrong?

For a geometric solution, you can see theorem 3 on the last page of this PDF. Sorry I did not have time to type it here. This solution was published by Abu Bekr Mohammad ibn Alhusain Alkarachi in about A.D. 1010 (Exercise 40 of appendix E, page A38 of Stewart Calculus 5th edition).
