Question abut the ambiguity of a maths problem.

Solution 1:

The true formula is that

$1^3+2^3+...+n^3=(1+2+...+n)^2$,

and you can prove this by induction. Assume that

$1^3+2^3+\cdots +(n-1)^3=(1+2+\cdots +(n-1))^2$,

then

$1^3+2^3+\cdots +n^3=(1+2+...+n-1)^2+n^3=\frac{n^2(n-1)^2}{4}+n^3=(1+2+\cdots n)^2.$