A Wild Fraction

Algebra Level 2

Evaluate the expression where the digit 2 2 appears 2020 2020 times:

1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 \cfrac{1}{ 2-\cfrac{1}{2-\cfrac{1}{2-\cfrac{1}{2-\cdots-\cfrac{1}{2-\cfrac{1}{2}}}}}}

2020 2020 2019 2020 \cfrac{2019}{2020} 2021 2022 \cfrac{2021}{2022} 2018 2019 \cfrac{2018}{2019} 2020 2021 \cfrac{2020}{2021}

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1 solution

David Vreken
Jul 27, 2020

Let a n a_n be the fraction where the digit 2 2 appears n n times. Then:

a 1 = 1 2 a_1 = \cfrac{1}{2}

a 2 = 1 2 1 2 = 2 3 a_2 = \cfrac{1}{2 - \frac{1}{2}} = \cfrac{2}{3}

a 3 = 1 2 1 2 1 2 = 1 2 2 3 = 3 4 a_3 = \cfrac{1}{2 - \frac{1}{2 - \frac{1}{2}}} = \cfrac{1}{2 - \frac{2}{3}} = \cfrac{3}{4}

a 4 = 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 = 1 2 3 4 = 4 5 a_4 = \cfrac{1}{2 - \frac{1}{2 - \frac{1}{2 - \frac{1}{2}}}} = \cfrac{1}{2 - \frac{3}{4}} = \cfrac{4}{5}

. . . ...

or a n = 1 2 a n 1 a_n = \cfrac{1}{2 - a_{n - 1}} , which can be shown inductively to be a n = n n + 1 a_n = \cfrac{n}{n + 1} .

Therefore, a 2020 = 2020 2020 + 1 = 2020 2021 a_{2020} = \cfrac{2020}{2020 + 1} = \boxed{\cfrac{2020}{2021}} .

Thank you, very clear and logical.

Hana Wehbi - 10 months, 2 weeks ago

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