AP and their ratios

Algebra Level pending

{ a n } \{a_n\} and { b n } \{b_n\} are arithmetic progressions and their sums of the first n n terms are A n A_n and B n B_n respectively.

If A n B n = n 1 2 n \dfrac{A_n}{B_n}=\dfrac{n-1}{2n} for all positive integers n n , find the value of

a 3 + a 5 + a 7 3 ( b 3 + b 9 ) + a 4 + a 10 2 ( b 2 + b 10 ) \frac{a_3+a_5+a_7}{3(b_3+b_9)}+\frac{a_4+a_{10}}{2(b_2+b_{10})}

10 21 \dfrac{10}{21} 7 15 \dfrac{7}{15} 10 23 \dfrac{10}{23} 5 11 \dfrac{5}{11}

This section requires Javascript.
You are seeing this because something didn't load right. We suggest you, (a) try refreshing the page, (b) enabling javascript if it is disabled on your browser and, finally, (c) loading the non-javascript version of this page . We're sorry about the hassle.

2 solutions

Chew-Seong Cheong
Dec 27, 2019

A 1 B 1 = a 1 b 1 = 1 1 2 = 0 a 1 = 0 \dfrac {A_1}{B_1} = \dfrac {a_1}{b_1} = \dfrac {1-1}2 = 0 \implies a_1 = 0 . Let the common difference of { A n } \{A_n\} and { B n } \{B_n \} be d a d_a and d b d_b respectively. Then

{ A 2 B 2 = d a 2 b 1 + d b = 1 4 4 d a = 2 b 1 + d b . . . ( 1 ) A 3 B 3 = 2 d a 2 b 1 + 2 d b = 1 3 3 d a = b 1 + d b . . . ( 2 ) \begin{cases} \dfrac {A_2}{B_2} = \dfrac {d_a}{2b_1+d_b} = \dfrac 14 & \implies 4 d_a = 2b_1 + d_b & ...(1) \\ \dfrac {A_3}{B_3} = \dfrac {2d_a}{2b_1+2d_b} = \dfrac 13 & \implies 3 d_a = b_1 + d_b & ...(2) \end{cases}

From ( 1 ) ( 2 ) (1) - (2) : d a = b 1 d_a = b_1 and from ( 1 ) (1) : d b = 2 b 1 d_b = 2b_1 . Therefore a n = ( n 1 ) b 1 a_n = (n-1) b_1 and b n = b 1 + 2 b 1 ( n 1 ) = ( 2 n 1 ) b 1 b_n = b_1 + 2b_1(n-1) = (2n-1)b_1 and

a 3 + a 5 + a 7 3 ( b 3 + b 9 ) + a 4 + a 10 ) 2 ( b 2 + b 10 = 2 b 1 + 4 b 1 + 6 b 1 3 ( 5 b 1 + 17 b 1 ) + 3 b 1 + 9 b 1 2 ( 3 b 1 + 19 b 1 ) = 12 3 ( 22 ) + 12 2 ( 22 ) = 5 11 \begin{aligned} \frac {a_3+a_5+a_7}{3(b_3+b_9)} + \frac {a_4+a_{10})}{2(b_2+b_{10}} & = \frac {2b_1+4b_1+6b_1}{3(5b_1+17 b_1)} + \frac {3b_1+9b_1}{2(3b_1+19b_1)} = \frac {12}{3(22)} + \frac {12}{2(22)} = \boxed {\frac 5{11}}\end{aligned}

Chris Lewis
Dec 26, 2019

Use the fact that A n , B n A_n,B_n are both (as sums of arithmetic progressions) quadratic functions of n n , and that A 0 = B 0 = 0 A_0=B_0=0 to find that A n = k ( n 2 n ) A_n=k \left( n^2-n \right) and B n = 2 k n 2 B_n=2kn^2 , where k k is an arbitrary non-zero constant.

Now use the fact that a n = A n A n 1 a_n=A_n-A_{n-1} to find a n = 2 k ( n 1 ) a_n=2k(n-1) and similarly b n = 2 k ( 2 n 1 ) b_n=2k(2n-1) .

It's easy now to substitute in and find the required fraction 5 11 \boxed{\frac{5}{11}} .

0 pending reports

×

Problem Loading...

Note Loading...

Set Loading...