Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.4 AIME, harder Prove it United States

Problem:

Suppose a1,a2,,a100a_{1}, a_{2}, \ldots, a_{100} are positive real numbers such that
ak=kak1ak1(k1) a_{k}=\frac{k a_{k-1}}{a_{k-1}-(k-1)}
for k=2,3,,100k=2,3, \ldots, 100. Given that a20=a23a_{20}=a_{23}, compute a100a_{100}.

Solution

Solution:

If we cross multiply, we obtain anan1=nan1+(n1)ana_{n} a_{n-1}=n a_{n-1}+(n-1) a_{n}, which we can rearrange and factor as (ann)(an1(n1))=n(n1)\left(a_{n}-n\right)\left(a_{n-1}-(n-1)\right)=n(n-1).

Let bn=annb_{n}=a_{n}-n. Then, bnbn1=n(n1)b_{n} b_{n-1}=n(n-1). If we let b1=tb_{1}=t, then we have by induction that bn=ntb_{n}=n t if nn is odd and bn=n/tb_{n}=n / t if nn is even. So we have
an={nt+n if n odd n/t+n if n even  a_{n}= \begin{cases}n t+n & \text{ if } n \text{ odd } \\ n / t+n & \text{ if } n \text{ even }\end{cases}
for some real number tt. We have 20/t+20=23t+2320 / t+20=23 t+23, so t{1,20/23}t \in\{-1,20 / 23\}. But if t=1t=-1, then a1=0a_{1}=0 which is not positive, so t=20/23t=20 / 23 and a100=100/t+100=215a_{100}=100 / t+100=215.

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