No no Please not Double Factorials

Define n ! ! n!! as the double factorial. If i = 1 2009 ( 2 i 1 ) ! ! ( 2 i ) ! ! \displaystyle\sum_{i=1}^{2009} \frac{(2i-1)!!}{(2i)!!} is expressed as a fraction in lowest terms, its denominator is 2 a b 2^ab with b b odd. Find a b 10 \dfrac{ab}{10} .


The answer is 401.

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1 solution

The "last" term of this sum is 4017 ! ! 4018 ! ! = 4017 4015 4013 . . . . 3 1 4018 4016 4014 . . . . 4 2 . \dfrac{4017!!}{4018!!} = \dfrac{4017*4015*4013* ....*3*1}{4018*4016*4014*....*4*2}.

When we reduce this fraction, for the denominator we will be left with all powers of 2 2 extracted from the terms in the denominator, as all the odd powers from these terms will be cancelled out by "matching" terms in the numerator. So the denominator will be 2 2 raised to the power

k = 1 11 4018 2 k = 4010. \displaystyle\sum_{k=1}^{11} \lfloor\dfrac{4018}{2^{k}} \rfloor = 4010.

All other terms in the original sum can be treated in the same way, with denominators of the form 2 m 2^{m} for m < 4010. m \lt 4010. Thus when we add all the terms together the least common denominator will be 2 4010 , 2^{4010}, and so

a b 10 = 4010 1 10 = 401 . \dfrac{ab}{10} = \dfrac{4010*1}{10} = \boxed{401}.

http://artofproblemsolving.com/wiki/index.php/2002 AIME II Problems/Problem 6

Finn Hulse - 6 years, 1 month ago

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