An arithmetic series has positive first term and common difference . The first, fifth and second terms of the arithmetic series are the first three consecutive terms of a geometric series respectively. It is also given that the terms of the arithmetic series are decreasing.
- (a)
Show that .
- (b)
Give a reason why the geometric series converges.
- (c)
It is given that the sum to infinity of the geometric series is .
Find the sum of the first twenty terms of the arithmetic series.
- (d)
Given that the sum of all the terms after the th term of the geometric series is greater than 2% of the sum of the first terms of the geometric series, find the possible values of .
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Worked solution
11(a)
1. Express the first three terms of the geometric series in terms of $a$ and $d$.
Let the first three terms of the geometric series be , and .
2. Equate the common ratios to form an equation.
Since are consecutive terms of a geometric series:
3. Solve the equation for $d$ and use the decreasing condition to find the final result.
Since the terms of the arithmetic series are decreasing, . Therefore, , which gives:
d = -\frac{7}{16}a
11(b)
1. Find the common ratio of the geometric series.
The terms of the geometric series are the 1st, 5th, and 2nd terms of the arithmetic series.
Substitute (from part (a)):
2. State the condition for convergence to conclude.
For a geometric series to converge, its common ratio must satisfy .
Since , the geometric series converges.
Since the common ratio is and , the geometric series converges.
11(c)
1. Find the common ratio of the geometric series in terms of the constant values.
The first and second terms of the geometric series are and respectively.
Using from part (a), the common ratio is:
2. Use the sum to infinity formula to find the value of the first term $a$.
3. Calculate the common difference $d$ and find the sum of the first twenty terms of the arithmetic series.
Substitute to find :
The sum of the first twenty terms of the arithmetic series is:
11(d)
1. Formulate the inequality using the sum to infinity and the sum of the first $n$ terms.
Let be the sum of the first terms and be the sum to infinity.
The sum of all terms after the th term is .
2. Substitute the known values of $S_\infty$ and $r$ to simplify the inequality.
From earlier parts, and .
Using , substitute into the inequality:
Divide both sides by (since it is positive):
3. Analyze the parity of $n$ to handle the negative common ratio.
Since , the term must be positive.
This requires to be an even integer. For even , the base becomes positive:
4. Solve for $n$ and list the possible even integer values.
Taking the natural logarithm on both sides:
Since , the inequality sign flips when dividing:
Since must be a positive even integer, the possible values are:
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