The teacher ordered 20 students from one class in a row and gave 800 candies to them. Every student had to calculate the ratio x+2k−1x, where x is the number of candies that he got and k is the number of his position in the row, counting from left to right. After calculating they all got the same result. How many candies were given to the student that was twelfth in the row?
Solution
Let the first student received x1 candies, the second x2 candies, ..., and the twentieth received x20 candies. So x1+x2+⋯+x20=800. Let xk+2k−1xk=M from where xk=(2k−1)1−MM. For the sum x1+x2+⋯+x20 we obtain x1+x2+⋯+x20=1−MM(1+3+5+⋯+39)=1−MM240⋅20=4001−MM
Because x1+x2+⋯+x20=800 we get 4001−MM=800 or 1−MM=2. Hence the twelfth student received x12=(2⋅12−1)⋅2=46.
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Source: MathNet,
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