Final answer:
To find the total number of chairs in the theater, you can use the formula for the sum of an arithmetic series. So there are 663 chairs in the theater.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the total number of chairs in the theater, we can use the formula for the sum of an arithmetic series:
S = (n/2)(a + l)
where S is the sum, n is the number of terms, a is the first term, and l is the last term.
In this case, there are 17 rows and each row has 3 more chairs than the previous row. So the first term, a, is 15 and the last term, l, can be calculated as:
l = a + (n-1)d
where d is the common difference, in this case, 3.
Substituting the values, we get:
l = 15 + (17-1)3 = 15 + 16*3 = 63
Now we can calculate the sum of the series:
S = (17/2)(15 + 63) = 8.5 * 78 = 663
So there are 663 chairs in the theater.