War between two arithmetic progressions!

Algebra Level 2

Given that the sum of the first n n terms of the arithmetic progression 85 , 90 , 95 , 85, 90, 95, \ldots is equal to the sum of the first 3 n 3n terms of another arithmetic progression 9 , 11 , 13 , , 9, 11, 13, \ldots, find the value of n n .


The answer is 9.

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2 solutions

Ikkyu San
Aug 11, 2015

From the sum of first n n terms of the AP : S n = n 2 [ 2 a 1 + ( n 1 ) d ] S_n=\dfrac{n}2[2a_1+(n-1)d]
The sum of first n \color{#302B94}n terms of 85 , 90 , 95 , \color{#624F41}{85},90,95,\cdots is

S n = n 2 [ 2 ( 85 ) + ( n 1 ) ( 5 ) ] = n 2 ( 170 + 5 n 5 ) = n 2 ( 165 + 5 n ) = 165 n + 5 n 2 2 ( 1 ) \begin{aligned}\begin{aligned}S_{\color{#302B94}n}=&\ \dfrac{\color{#302B94}n}2[2\color{#624F41}{(85)}+(\color{#302B94}n-1)(5)]\\=&\ \dfrac{n}2(170+5n-5)\\=&\ \dfrac{n}2(165+5n)\\=&\ \color{#3D99F6}{\dfrac{165n+5n^2}2\Rightarrow(1)}\end{aligned}\end{aligned}

The sum of first 3 n \color{magenta}{3n} terms of 9 , 11 , 13 , \color{#20A900}9,11,13,\cdots is

S 3 n = 3 n 2 [ 2 ( 9 ) + ( 3 n 1 ) ( 2 ) ] = 3 n 2 ( 18 + 6 n 2 ) = 3 n 2 ( 16 + 6 n ) = 3 n ( 8 + 3 n ) = 24 n + 9 n 2 ( 2 ) \begin{aligned}\begin{aligned}S_{\color{magenta}{3n}}=&\ \dfrac{\color{magenta}{3n}}2[2\color{#20A900}{(9)}+(\color{magenta}{3n}-1)(2)]\\=&\ \dfrac{3n}2(18+6n-2)\\=&\ \dfrac{3n}2(16+6n)\\=&\ 3n(8+3n)\\=&\ \color{#D61F06}{24n+9n^2\Rightarrow(2)}\end{aligned}\end{aligned}

Equation ( 1 ) = \color{#3D99F6}{(1)}= Equation ( 2 ) \color{#D61F06}{(2)} That is,

165 n + 5 n 2 2 = 24 n + 9 n 2 165 n + 5 n 2 = 48 n + 18 n 2 13 n 2 117 n = 0 n 2 9 n = 0 n ( n 9 ) = 0 n = 0 , 9 \begin{aligned}\begin{aligned}\color{#3D99F6}{\dfrac{165n+5n^2}2}=&\ \color{#D61F06}{24n+9n^2}\\165n+5n^2=&\ 48n+18n^2\\13n^2-117n=&\ 0\\n^2-9n=&\ 0\\n(n-9)=&\ 0\\n=&\ 0,9\end{aligned}\end{aligned}

But the value of n n must be a Z + \mathbb Z^+ . Thus, n = 9 n=\boxed9

did it the same way. But you can do it in a simpler way too. mark the previous equation as (1).i.e. mark "sn=n/2(165+5n)"as eqn(1) also mark "s3n=3n(8+3n) as eqn.(2) then by equating eqn 1 and 2 we get n=9

saptarshi sen - 5 years, 5 months ago

Shouldn't it be 117n-13n^2

Kano Boom - 3 years, 2 months ago
Sharad Srivastav
Feb 22, 2017

Given That : => n/2(170+(n-1)5) = 3n/2(18+(3n-1)2) => 165 + 5n = 3(16 + 6n) => 165 - 48 = 18n - 5n => 117 = 13n => n = 9.

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