Maths Olympiad Prep

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, 2023

Algebra Difficulty 1.8 Junior Find the answer Canada

It took Nasrin two hours and thirty minutes to canoe the 4.5 km
into her camp. Paddling much faster, the return trip took her 13\frac{1}{3} of the time. What was
Nasrin’s mean (average) speed as she paddled to camp and back?

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.