What Would This Even Look Like?

Algebra Level 5

In a sequence of real numbers x 0 , x 1 , x 2 , x 3 , , x 99 , x 100 x_{0},x_{1},x_{2},x_{3},\ldots,x_{99},x_{100} , for every pair of integers a , b a,b , such that 0 a < b 100 0 \leq a < b \leq 100 , the sum x a + x b x_{a}+x_{b} is a + b a+b less than the sum of the other 99 numbers in the sequence.

As an explicit example, x 0 + x 1 = x 2 + x 3 + x 4 + + x 100 ( 0 + 1 ) x_{0}+x_{1}=x_{2}+x_{3}+x_{4}+\cdots+x_{100}-(0+1)

If the value of x 50 x_{50} can be expressed in the form m n \frac{m}{n} for co-prime positive integers m , n m,n , find the value of m + n m+n .


Inspired by the AIME Exam


The answer is 197.

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3 solutions

Brandon Monsen
Dec 13, 2015

Let S S denote the sum of all of the terms in the sequence.

By the given information, we know that

x a + x b = S x a x b a b 2 x a + 2 x b = S a b x_{a}+x_{b}=S-x_{a}-x_{b}-a-b \\ 2x_{a}+2x_{b}=S-a-b

Note that there are ( 101 2 ) 101 \choose 2 ways we can pair up two numbers in this sequence. Also note that there are 100 ways to pair a 0 a_{0} ; once with x 1 x_{1} , once with x 2 x_{2} , and so on. This holds for any x p , a x_{p}, a and b b .

This means if we sum up our above equation for all possible combinations of two terms of our sequence, we will get

200 ( x 0 + x 1 + x 2 + . . . + x 100 ) = ( 101 2 ) S 100 k = 0 100 k 200(x_{0}+x_{1}+x_{2}+...+x_{100})={101 \choose 2} S - 100\sum_{k=0}^{100}k

Here, we can simplify and get

200 S = 5050 S ( 50 ) ( 100 ) ( 101 ) 4850 S = 505000 S = 10100 97 S = 104 + 12 97 200S=5050S-(50)(100)(101) \\ 4850S=505000 \\ S=\frac{10100}{97} \\ S=104+\frac{12}{97}

Now, we can set up the following system:

2 ( x 49 + x 50 ) = 104 + 12 97 49 50 = 5 + 12 97 2 ( x 49 + x 51 ) = 4 + 12 97 2 ( x 50 + x 51 ) = 3 + 12 97 2(x_{49}+x_{50})=104+\frac{12}{97}-49-50=5+\frac{12}{97} \\ 2(x_{49}+x_{51})=4+\frac{12}{97} \\ 2(x_{50}+x_{51})=3+\frac{12}{97}

Subtract the second equation from the first to get

2 x 50 2 x 51 = 1 2 x 50 + 2 x 51 = 3 + 12 97 2x_{50}-2x_{51}=1 \\ 2x_{50}+2x_{51}=3+\frac{12}{97}

Add the two equations together to get

4 x 50 = 4 + 12 97 x 50 = 100 97 4x_{50}=4+\frac{12}{97} \\ x_{50}=\frac{100}{97}

Since 100 and 97 are co-prime, our answer is 97 + 100 = 197 97+100=\boxed{197}


As for the problem's title, the sequence actually turns out to be an arithmetic sequence, with each successive term decreasing by 1 2 \frac{1}{2}

Just to add on: x n = 2525 97 1 2 n x_n=\frac{2525}{97}-\frac{1}{2}n

Great solution though, I used a much more tedious method involving a recurrence relation.

Julian Poon - 5 years, 6 months ago

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It might just be a vocab thing, but I don't know what recurrence relation is, so if it isn't too awful to share your solution, please do so!

Brandon Monsen - 5 years, 6 months ago

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I'll post a solution in the inspired problem, so you can see my method.

Julian Poon - 5 years, 6 months ago

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@Julian Poon Alright sounds good :)

Brandon Monsen - 5 years, 6 months ago

I think that is n 2 \frac{-n}{2} instead of x 2 \frac{-x}{2} .... Same approach !

Abhinav Raichur - 5 years, 6 months ago

no need to add all the equations. just add 101.i solved it just before my ict exam started in the classs. nice problem!

Aareyan Manzoor - 5 years, 6 months ago

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Since there are an odd number of therms, I'm not seeing exactly what you did. Could you please show me?

Brandon Monsen - 5 years, 6 months ago

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2 ( x 0 + x 1 ) = S 0 1 2(x_0+x_1)=S-0-1 2 ( x 1 + x 2 ) = S 1 2 2(x_1+x_2)=S-1-2 2 ( x 2 + x 3 ) = S 2 3 2(x_2+x_3)=S-2-3 ..... 2 ( x 99 + x 100 = S 99 100 2(x_{99}+x_{100}=S-99-100 2 ( x 100 + x 0 ) = S 100 0 2(x_{100}+x_0)=S-100-0 adding them up we get 2 ( 2 S ) = 101 S 100 ( 100 + 1 ) 2 100 ( 100 + 1 ) 2 = 101 S 10100 2(2S)=101S-\frac{100(100+1)}{2}-\frac{100(100+1)}{2}=101S-10100 we can solve this to get 97 S = 10100 S = 10100 97 97S=10100\Longrightarrow S=\dfrac{10100}{97} i solved for x 50 x_{50} like this: 2 ( x 50 + x 0 ) = S 50 0 2(x_{50}+x_0)=S-50-0 2 ( x 50 + x 1 ) = S 50 1 2(x_{50}+x_1)=S-50-1 ...... 2 ( x 50 + x 99 ) = S 50 99 2(x_{50}+x_{99})=S-50-99 2 ( x 50 + x 100 ) = S 50 100 2(x_{50}+x_{100})=S-50-100 add all up to find 2 ( 101 x 50 + S ) = 101 S 101 50 100 ( 100 + 1 ) 2 = 101 S 10100 2(101x_{50}+S)=101S-101*50-\frac{100(100+1)}{2}=101S-10100 the rest is easy.

Aareyan Manzoor - 5 years, 6 months ago

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@Aareyan Manzoor Ah okay now I see, you loop the 100 back to the 0. I can't believe I didn't think of that!

Brandon Monsen - 5 years, 6 months ago

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@Brandon Monsen another interesting thing is that 101 s 10100 = 4 s 101s-10100=4s . we could substitute that in the last line to make it more easy!

Aareyan Manzoor - 5 years, 6 months ago

@Brandon Monsen just posted this , which is based of this problem. please try!

Aareyan Manzoor - 5 years, 6 months ago

@Aareyan Manzoor Nice!

Julian Poon - 5 years, 6 months ago

Hi Brandon Sir nice solution, I used x 1 , x 2 , x 50 x_{1}, x_{2}, x_{50} . Were you inspired from this problem?

Department 8 - 5 years, 6 months ago

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Yep, exactly that problem :)

Brandon Monsen - 5 years, 6 months ago
Aditya Dhawan
Jan 8, 2016

Moderator note:

Good analysis used to determine the general term.

L e t S = i = 0 100 X i . X a + X b = S ( X a + X b ) ( a + b ) X a + X b = S 2 a + b 2 X i = S 4 i 2 , 0 i 101. S = i = 0 100 X i = i = 0 100 ( S 4 i 2 ) = 101 4 S 50 101 2 . 97 4 S = 25 101. S = 4 25 101 97 . X 50 = S 4 50 2 = 25 101 97 25 = 4 25 97 = m n . m + n = 197 \displaystyle Let ~S=\sum_{i=0}^{100} X_i.\\ X_a+X_b=S -(X_a+X_b) - (a+b) ~~~ \implies ~ X_a+X_b =\dfrac S 2 - \dfrac{a+b} 2\\ \implies ~ \color{#3D99F6}{X_i =\dfrac S 4 - \dfrac i 2 }, ~~0 \leq i \leq101.\\ \displaystyle ~S=\sum_{i=0}^{100} X_i=\sum_{i=0}^{100} \left ( \dfrac S 4 - \dfrac i 2 \right)=\dfrac{101}4 S- \dfrac{50*101} 2 . ~~~~ \therefore ~\dfrac{97} 4 S=25*101.\\ \implies ~\color{#3D99F6}{S= \dfrac{4*25*101} {97}}.\\ X_{50}=\dfrac S 4 - \dfrac {50} 2=\dfrac{25*101} {97} - 25=\dfrac{4*25}{97}=\dfrac m n.\\ m+n= \Huge ~~~~\color{#D61F06}{197}

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