Proof on difference of two squares and odd integers

proof-writing

How would you prove that every odd integer is a difference of two squares?

I re phrased the problem to make it clearer to me: If $k$ is an odd integer then it ca be expressed in the form $a^2-b^2$ where a and b are integers.

So i start by supposing that k is an odd integer and so $k=2l+1$ for some l in the integers. It seems like you need cases for this but im not really sure how to do it.
Could someone help me out please, thanks.

Best Answer

Hint: As you mentioned, you have $k = 2l+1$ for some $l$.

From here, note the difference of squares:

$$a^2-b^2 = (a+b)(a-b)$$

Let $a$ and $b$ be two consecutive integers and try to simplify.

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