A series is given by where is constant.
- (a)
Explain why this is a geometric series. Determine the range of values of for the sum to infinity of this series to exist.
- (b)
Using , and given that , find , leaving your answer in the form of , where , and are constants to be determined.
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Worked solution
2(a)
1. Show that the ratio of consecutive terms is a constant.
Let the -th term be .
Since the ratio of consecutive terms is a constant () that is independent of , the series is a geometric series.
2. State the condition for the sum to infinity to exist.
For the sum to infinity of a geometric series to exist, the common ratio must satisfy .
3. Solve the inequality to find the range of $x$.
Subtract from all parts:
Divide by and reverse the inequality signs:
The ratio between consecutive terms is , which is independent of , hence it is a geometric series.
The range of is .
2(b)
1. Substitute $x = 1$ and expand the terms inside the summation.
Given , the term simplifies to .
Expanding the second part:
So the expression inside the sum is:
2. Split the sum into separate components and apply the given formula for $\sum r^2$.
By linearity, the sum can be split as:
We are given . Since the term is , we can replace with in the formula:
3. Evaluate the remaining standard sums and combine all parts.
Using the sum of an arithmetic progression, .
Since there are terms from to , the constant sum is .
Substitute these back into the total sum:
4. Factorise $\frac{n}{6}$ and simplify to the required quadratic form.
Factorising from all terms:
Expressing this in the requested form :
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