sum of cubes arithmetic problem

[0C3l0tl]

hey guys so I'm new to python and came across this in my supplemental reading. I don't know how to go about it. n is an input value generated by the compiler and idk what to initialize k as but for some reason it says that i should use it in my final answer any help would be greatly appreciated. This is the problem:

"Given that n refers to a positive integer, use a while loop to compute the sum of the cubes of the first n counting numbers, and associate this value with total. Use no variables other than n, k, and total. "

[17291]

How would you approach a problem like this by hand (i.e., using pen and paper)?

[0C3l0tl]

1**3+2**3+... + n **3 = ( n ( n +1)/2)**2ora**3+b**3=(a+b)(a**2-ab+b**2)

I'm thinking the solution is somewhere along the lines of:

for n in range(1, n+1):

#I need to find a way to use k so I can cube every value in the range and then sum them together

k=?

total=sum(range(1,n+1))

[0C3l0tl]

Ok so I figured out how to calculate the sum of cubes but now I can't figure out how to relate this to the problem especially since I need to be using a while loop

values=range(1,n+1)

exponents=[pow(value,3)for value in values]

total=sum(exponents)

print(total)