2002 AMC 12P Problems/Problem 11

Problem

Let $t_n = \frac{n(n+1)}{2}$ be the $n$ th triangular number. Find

$\frac{1}{t_1} + \frac{1}{t_2} + \frac{1}{t_3} + ... + \frac{1}{t_{2002}}$

$\text{(A) }\frac {4003}{2003} \qquad \text{(B) }\frac {2001}{1001} \qquad \text{(C) }\frac {4004}{2003} \qquad \text{(D) }\frac {4001}{2001} \qquad \text{(E) }2$

Solution

We may write $\frac{1}{t_n}$ as $\frac{2}{n(n+1)}$ and do a partial fraction decomposition. Assume $\frac{2}{n(n+1)} = \frac{A_1}{n} + \frac{A_2}{n+1}$ . Multiplying both sides by $n(n+1)$ gives $2 = A_1(n+1) + A_2(n)$ .

2002 AMC 12P (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 10	Followed by Problem 12
1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25
All AMC 12 Problems and Solutions

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2002 AMC 12P Problems/Problem 11

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