Arithmetic Progression problem 1 by Dhaval Furia

Algebra Level pending

The number of common terms in the two arithmetic progressions: 15 , 19 , 23 , 27 , . . . , 415 15, 19, 23, 27, ..., 415 and 14 , 19 , 24 , 29 , . . . , 464 14, 19, 24, 29, ..., 464 is _____

20 21 18 19

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2 solutions

Let the n n ' t h ^{th} term of the first sequence be equal to the p p ' t h ^{th} term of the second. Then

4 n + 11 = 5 p + 9 p = 4 n + 2 5 4n+11=5p+9\implies p=\dfrac{4n+2}{5} . Hence the terms t 2 , t 7 , t 12 , . . . , t 97 t_2,t_7,t_{12},...,t_{97} of the first sequence match with the terms T 2 , T 6 , T 10 , . . . T_2,T_6,T_{10},... of the second.

Hence, in all, 97 2 5 + 1 \lfloor {\dfrac{97-2}{5}}\rfloor +1 or 20 \boxed {20} terms of them are common.

Ron Gallagher
May 14, 2020

Terms in the first progression have form 15+4 k (for k=0,1, 2, ..., 100). Terms in the second progression have form 14+5 m (m=0, 1, ..., 90). Setting these two equal yields:

15 + 4 k = 14+ 5 m.

Expressed in modular arithmetic, this is equivalent to:

4k = -1 (mod 5), or

4k = 4 (mod 5), or

k = 1 (mod 5).

This is equivalent to k ending in 1 or 6. There are 20 such k's between 0 and 100.

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