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Algebra Difficulty 5.3 AIME, harder Find the answer Ireland

Define f(r)=2r+r1+r+1f(r) = 2\sqrt{r} + \sqrt{r-1} + \sqrt{r+1}, g(r)=2r+r1r+1g(r) = 2\sqrt{r} + \sqrt{r-1} - \sqrt{r+1} and h(r)=2rr1+r+1h(r) = 2\sqrt{r} - \sqrt{r-1} + \sqrt{r+1}. Calculate to two decimal places
r=120201f(r)g(r)h(r). \sum_{r=1}^{2020} \frac{1}{f(r) \cdot g(r) \cdot h(r)}.

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solution

The answer is 0.25 to 2DP (or more accurately, 0.247219).
The key observation is that
1f(r)g(r)h(r)=14(2rr1r+1). \frac{1}{f(r)g(r)h(r)} = \frac{1}{4} \left( 2\sqrt{r} - \sqrt{r-1} - \sqrt{r+1} \right).
Two see why, we apply the difference of two squares twice:
(2rr1r+1)(r1+2r+r+1)=4r(r1+r+1)2=4r(r1)(r+1)2r1r+1=2r2r21. \begin{aligned} & \left(2\sqrt{r} - \sqrt{r-1} - \sqrt{r+1}\right) \left(\sqrt{r-1} + 2\sqrt{r} + \sqrt{r+1}\right) \\ &= 4r - \left(\sqrt{r-1} + \sqrt{r+1}\right)^2 \\ &= 4r - (r-1) - (r+1) - 2\sqrt{r-1}\sqrt{r+1} \\ &= 2r - 2\sqrt{r^2-1}. \end{aligned}
Likewise:
(2r+r1r+1)(2rr1+r+1)=4r(r+1r1)2=2r+2r21. \begin{aligned} & \left(2\sqrt{r} + \sqrt{r-1} - \sqrt{r+1}\right) \left(2\sqrt{r} - \sqrt{r-1} + \sqrt{r+1}\right) \\ &= 4r - \left(\sqrt{r+1} - \sqrt{r-1}\right)^2 \\ &= 2r + 2\sqrt{r^2-1}. \end{aligned}
Multiplying these last two terms, we have
f(r)g(r)h(r)(2rr1r+1)=(2r2r21)(2r+2r21)=4. \begin{aligned} & f(r)g(r)h(r) \cdot \left(2\sqrt{r} - \sqrt{r-1} - \sqrt{r+1}\right) \\ &= \left(2r - 2\sqrt{r^2-1}\right) \left(2r + 2\sqrt{r^2-1}\right) = 4. \end{aligned}
This proves the key observation. Then the sum to be computed is:
S=14r=12020(2rr1r+1)=24r=12020r14r=12020r114r=12020r+1=24r=12020r14(r=12020r2020)14(r=12020r1+2021)=14(2020+12021). \begin{aligned} S &= \frac{1}{4} \sum_{r=1}^{2020} \left(2\sqrt{r} - \sqrt{r-1} - \sqrt{r+1}\right) \\ &= \frac{2}{4} \sum_{r=1}^{2020} \sqrt{r} - \frac{1}{4} \sum_{r=1}^{2020} \sqrt{r-1} - \frac{1}{4} \sum_{r=1}^{2020} \sqrt{r+1} \\ &= \frac{2}{4} \sum_{r=1}^{2020} \sqrt{r} - \frac{1}{4} \left(\sum_{r=1}^{2020} \sqrt{r} - \sqrt{2020}\right) - \frac{1}{4} \left(\sum_{r=1}^{2020} \sqrt{r-1} + \sqrt{2021}\right) \\ &= \frac{1}{4} \left(\sqrt{2020} + 1 - \sqrt{2021}\right). \end{aligned}

To see that S=0.25S = 0.25 to two decimal places, we note that:
014S=202120204=14(2020+2021)<181600=1320. 0 \le \frac{1}{4} - S = \frac{\sqrt{2021} - \sqrt{2020}}{4} = \frac{1}{4(\sqrt{2020} + \sqrt{2021})} < \frac{1}{8\sqrt{1600}} = \frac{1}{320}.

Thus the difference does not affect the second decimal place.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.