But there is no pattern at all!

Algebra Level 4

Consider a sequence of numbers 2, 5, 6, 7,11,13,12,17, 20,17, 23, 27,... Find the sum of the first 50 terms of this sequence.

Hint :- It is solvable by arithmetic progression.


The answer is 2551.

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2 solutions

Chew-Seong Cheong
May 27, 2016

The sequence { 2 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 11 , 13 , 12 , 17 , 20 , 17 , 23 , 27 , . . . } \{\color{#3D99F6}{2}, \color{#D61F06}{5}, \color{#20A900}{6}, \color{#3D99F6}{7}, \color{#D61F06}{11}, \color{#20A900}{13}, \color{#3D99F6}{12}, \color{#D61F06}{17}, \color{#20A900}{20}, \color{#3D99F6}{17}, \color{#D61F06}{23}, \color{#20A900}{27},...\} is composed of three arithmetic progressions as follows: \[\begin{array} {} \color{blue}{2}, & & & \color{blue}{7}, & & & \color{blue}{12}, & & & \color{blue}{17}, & & & \color{blue}{\cdots} \\ & \color{red}{5}, & & & \color{red}{11}, & & & \color{red}{17}, & & & \color{red}{23}, & & & \color{red}{\cdots} \\ & & \color{green}{6}, & & & \color{green}{13}, & & & \color{green}{20}, & & & \color{green}{27}, & & & \color{green}{\cdots} \end{array} \]

The first terms, common differences and numbers of terms for the first 50 terms of the sequence of the three AP are:

{ a 1 = 2 , d 1 = 5 , n 1 = 17 a 2 = 5 , d 1 = 6 , n 2 = 17 a 3 = 6 , d 1 = 7 , n 3 = 50 3 = 16 \begin{cases} a_1 = 2, \ d_1 = 5, \ n_1 = 17 \\ a_2 = 5, \ d_1 = 6, \ n_2 = 17 \\ a_3 = 6, \ d_1 = 7, \ n_3 = \left \lfloor \frac{50}{3} \right \rfloor = 16 \end{cases}

The sum of the first 50 terms of the sequence is:

S 1 ( 17 ) + S 2 ( 17 ) + S 3 ( 16 ) = 17 ( 2 ( 2 ) + 5 ( 17 1 ) 2 ) + 17 ( 2 ( 5 ) + 6 ( 17 1 ) 2 ) + 16 ( 2 ( 5 ) + 7 ( 16 1 ) 2 ) = 714 + 901 + 936 = 2551 \begin{aligned} S_1(17)+S_2(17)+S_3(16) & = 17\left(\frac{2(2)+5(17-1)}{2} \right) + 17\left(\frac{2(5)+6(17-1)}{2} \right) + 16\left(\frac{2(5)+7(16-1)}{2} \right) \\ & = 714 + 901 + 936 \\ & = \boxed{2551} \end{aligned}

Haha, nice "colored" solution.

Ashish Menon - 5 years ago
Ashish Menon
May 26, 2016

We can break up this sequence into three parts:- 2 , 7 , 12 , 7 , 5 , 11 , 17 , 23 , 6 , 13 , 20 , 27 , 2,7,12,7,\cdots\\ 5,11,17,23,\cdots\\ 6,13,20,27,\cdots .

Now, these individual parts form an arithmetic progression. Since 50 50 is not divisible by 3 3 , the first too sequences would have one more term than the last one. Now, the number of terms in the last sequence is 50 3 = 16.666...... = 16 \left \lfloor \dfrac{50}{3} \right \rfloor = \left \lfloor 16.666...... \right \rfloor = 16 . So, the first two sequences would have 16 + 1 = 17 16 + 1 = 17 terms.

Sum of first 17 terms of first sequence = 17 2 × ( 2 × 2 + 16 × 5 ) = 17 2 × 84 = 17 × 42 = 714 \dfrac{17}{2} × \left(2×2 + 16×5\right)\\ = \dfrac{17}{2} × 84\\ = 17 × 42\\ = 714 .

Sum of first 17 terms of second sequence = 17 2 × ( 2 × 5 + 16 × 6 ) = 17 2 × 106 = 17 × 53 = 901 \dfrac{17}{2} × \left(2×5 + 16×6\right)\\ = \dfrac{17}{2} × 106\\ = 17 × 53\\ = 901 .

Sum of first 16 terms of third sequence = 16 2 × ( 2 × 6 + 15 × 7 ) = 16 2 × 117 = 8 × 117 = 936 \dfrac{16}{2} × \left(2×6 + 15 × 7\right)\\ = \dfrac{16}{2} × 117\\ = 8 × 117\\ = 936 .

So, the sum of the first 50 50 terms of the given AP is 714 + 901 + 936 = 2551 714 + 901 + 936\\ = \color{#69047E}{\boxed{2551}}

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