A difficult sum?

Algebra Level 1

If k = 1 n 1 k ( k + 1 ) = 99 100 , \sum_{k=1}^{n} \frac{1}{k(k+1)}=\frac{99}{100}, what is n ? n?


The answer is 99.

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2 solutions

Abhijit Gairola
May 2, 2014

k = 1 n 1 k ( k + 1 ) = k = 1 n k + 1 1 k ( k + 1 ) = n + 1 n 1 k 1 k + 1 \sum _{ k=1 }^{ n }{ \frac { 1 }{ k(k+1) } } =\sum _{ k=1 }^{ n }{ \frac { k+1-1 }{ k(k+1) } } =\sum _{ n+1 }^{ n }{ \frac { 1 }{ k } -\frac { 1 }{ k+1 } }

on replacing k by 1,2,3...,the equation condenses to 1 1 n + 1 = 99 100 1-\frac { 1 }{ n+1 } =\frac { 99 }{ 100 }

on solving, n=99

k+1-k not k+1-1

John Dore - 7 years ago
Mayank Holmes
May 29, 2014

1/(k*(k+1)) = (1/k) - (1/k+1) ....... as such summation= 1 - (1/2) + (1/2) - (1/3) + (1/3) - (1/4) + (1/4) ............. - (1/(n+1)) = (99/100)...... which implies 1 - (1/(n+1)) = (99/100)..... simplifying we get n = 99 !!!!!!!!

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