AlgebraDifficulty 5.3AIME, harderProve itUnited States
Problem: Is the number (1+21)(1+41)(1+61)…(1+20181) greater than, less than, or equal to 50?
Solution
Solution: Call the expression S. Note that (1+21)(1+41)(1+61)…(1+20181)<(1+11)(1+31)(1+51)…(1+20171) Multiplying these two products together, we get (1+11)(1+21)(1+31)…(1+20181)=12⋅23⋅34⋯20182019=2019 This shows that S2<2019⟹S<2019<50 as desired.
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Source: MathNet,
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