The "3" is just a sum multiplier
We can use the sum of differences to find a polynomial
The frist 7 terms produced by the summation are :
6 6 6 12 30 66 126
0 0 6 18 36 60
0 6 12 18 24
6 6 6 6
We have 3 rows of non-zero differences.....so we have a third power polynomial of the form
an^3 + bn^2 + cn + d
And we have this system
a(1)^3 + b(1)^2 + c(1) + d = 6
a(2)^3 + b(2)^2 + c(2) + d = 6
a(3)^3 + b(3)^2 + c(3) + d = 6
a(4)^2 + b(4)^2 + c(4) + d = 12
a + b + c + d = 6
8a + 4b + 2c + d = 6
27a + 9b + 3c + d = 6
64a + 16b + 4c + d = 12
a = 1 b = -6 c = 11 d = 0
So.......we have the polynomial
n^3 - 6n^2 + 11n
We can show that this is equal to (n - 1)(n -2)(n -3) + 6
(n - 1)(n - 2) (n -3) + 6 =
(n^2 - 3n + 2) (n - 3) + 6 =
(n^3 - 3n^2 + 2n - 3n^2 + 9n - 6) + 6 =
(n^3 - 6n^2 + 11n - 6) + 6 =
n^3 - 6n^2 + 11n
PS, YEEEEEET......I can show you how to solve the system of equations if you want me to....