AlgebraDifficulty 5.0AIME, harderProve itUnited States
Problem: Solve the equation x+4x+16x+…+42008x+3−x=1 Express your answer as a reduced fraction with the numerator and denominator written in their prime factorization.
Solution
Solution: Answer: 240161
Rewrite the equation to get x+4x+16x+…+42008x+3=x+1 Squaring both sides yields 4x+…+42008x+3=2x+1 Squaring again yields 16x+…+42008x+3=4x+1 One can see that by continuing this process one gets 42008x+3=22008x+1 so that 2⋅22008x=2. Hence x=4−2008. It is also easy to check that this is indeed a solution to the original equation.
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Source: MathNet,
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