Difference between revisions of "1951 AHSME Problems/Problem 11"

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Let the original geometric series be <math>a,ar,ar^2,ar^3,ar^4\cdots</math>. Therefore, their squares are <math>a^2,a^2r^2,a^2r^4,a^2r^6,\cdots</math>, which is a [[Geometric sequence|geometric sequence]] with first term <math>a^2</math> and common ratio <math>r^2</math>. Thus, the sum is <math>\boxed{\textbf{(C)}\ \frac {a^2}{1 \minus{} r^2}}</math>.
 
Let the original geometric series be <math>a,ar,ar^2,ar^3,ar^4\cdots</math>. Therefore, their squares are <math>a^2,a^2r^2,a^2r^4,a^2r^6,\cdots</math>, which is a [[Geometric sequence|geometric sequence]] with first term <math>a^2</math> and common ratio <math>r^2</math>. Thus, the sum is <math>\boxed{\textbf{(C)}\ \frac {a^2}{1 \minus{} r^2}}</math>.
  
== See also ==
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== See Also ==
{{AHSME box|year=1951|num-b=10|num-a=12}}  
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{{AHSME 50p box|year=1951|num-b=10|num-a=12}}  
  
 
[[Category:Introductory Algebra Problems]]
 
[[Category:Introductory Algebra Problems]]

Revision as of 07:51, 29 April 2012

Problem

The limit of the sum of an infinite number of terms in a geometric progression is $\frac {a}{1 \minus{} r}$ (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg) where $a$ denotes the first term and $\minus{} 1 < r < 1$ (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg) denotes the common ratio. The limit of the sum of their squares is:

$\textbf{(A)}\ \frac {a^2}{(1 \minus{} r)^2} \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ \frac {a^2}{1 \plus{} r^2} \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ \frac {a^2}{1 \minus{} r^2} \qquad\textbf{(D)}\ \frac {4a^2}{1 \plus{} r^2} \qquad\textbf{(E)}\ \text{none of these}$ (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg)

Solution

Let the original geometric series be $a,ar,ar^2,ar^3,ar^4\cdots$. Therefore, their squares are $a^2,a^2r^2,a^2r^4,a^2r^6,\cdots$, which is a geometric sequence with first term $a^2$ and common ratio $r^2$. Thus, the sum is $\boxed{\textbf{(C)}\ \frac {a^2}{1 \minus{} r^2}}$ (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg).

See Also

1951 AHSC (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 10
Followed by
Problem 12
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All AHSME Problems and Solutions