Maths Olympiad Prep

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, 2023

Algebra Difficulty 2.8 Junior Find the answer Canada

A Gareth sequence is a sequence of numbers in which each
number after the second is the non-negative difference between
the two previous numbers. For example, if a Gareth sequence begins 15,1215,12, then

the third number in the sequence is 1512=315-12=3,
the fourth number is 123=912-3=9,
the fifth number is 93=69-3=6,

and so the resulting sequence is 15,12,3,9,6,15,12,3,9,6, \dots. If a Gareth sequence
begins 10,810, 8, what is the sum of
the first 30 numbers in the sequence?

Pick one

Solution

If a Gareth sequence begins 10, 8, then the 3rd number in the
sequence is 108=210-8=2, the 4th is
82=68-2=6, the 5th is 62=46-2=4, the 6th is 64=26-4=2, the 7th is 42=24-2=2, the 8th is 22=02-2=0, the 9th is 20=22-0=2, the 10th is 20=22-0=2, and the 11th is 22=02-2=0.

Thus, the resulting sequence is 10,8,2,6,4,2,2,0,2,2,0,10,8,2,6,4,2,2,0,2,2,0,\dots.

The first 5 numbers in the sequence are 10,8,2,6,410,8,2,6,4, the next 3 numbers are 2,2,02,2,0, and this block of 3 numbers
appears to repeat.

Since each new number added to the end of this sequence is determined by
the two previous numbers in the sequence, then this block of 3 numbers
will indeed continue to repeat. (That is, since the block repeats once,
then it will continue repeating.)

The first 30 numbers of the sequence begins with the first 5 numbers,
followed by 8 blocks of 2,2,02,2,0,
followed by one additional 2 (since 5+8×3+1=305+8\times 3+1=30).

The sum of the first 5 numbers is 10+8+2+6+4=3010+8+2+6+4=30.

The sum of each repeating block is 2+2+0=42+2+0=4, and so the sum of 8 such blocks
is 8×4=328\times 4=32.

Thus, the sum of the first 30 numbers in the sequence is 30+32+2=6430+32+2=64.

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Source: CEMC, University of Waterloo, licensed CC-BY-NC-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.