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Algebra Difficulty 3.3 AMC 10/12 Find the answer

Given an=n+λn{a}_{n}=n+\frac{λ}{n}, then "0<λ  <20 \lt \lambda\ \ \lt 2" is a ( ) for the sequence {an}\{a_{n}\} to be an increasing sequence.

Pick one

Solution

To analyze whether "0<λ  <20 \lt \lambda\ \ \lt 2" is a sufficient and/or necessary condition for the sequence {an}\{a_{n}\} to be an increasing sequence, we start by examining the difference between consecutive terms of the sequence:

an+1an=(n+1+λn+1)(n+λn)=1+λn+1λn=1λn(n+1)=n2+nλn(n+1). \begin{align*} a_{n+1}-a_{n} &= \left(n+1+\frac{\lambda}{n+1}\right) - \left(n+\frac{\lambda}{n}\right) \\ &= 1 + \frac{\lambda}{n+1} - \frac{\lambda}{n} \\ &= 1 - \frac{\lambda}{n(n+1)} \\ &= \frac{n^2 + n - \lambda}{n(n+1)}. \end{align*}

Given that the quadratic function f(n)=n2+nλf(n) = n^2 + n - \lambda has its axis of symmetry at n=12n = -\frac{1}{2}, it is monotonically increasing for n1n \geq 1. Therefore, the minimum value of f(n)f(n) within the domain of interest occurs at n=1n=1, which is f(1)=2λf(1) = 2 - \lambda. Since 0<λ<20 \lt \lambda \lt 2, we have:

f(n)f(1)=2λ>0. f(n) \geq f(1) = 2 - \lambda \gt 0.

This implies that an+1an>0a_{n+1} - a_{n} \gt 0 for all nn, indicating that the sequence {an}\{a_{n}\} is indeed an increasing sequence when 0<λ<20 \lt \lambda \lt 2. Thus, "0<λ<20 \lt \lambda \lt 2" is a sufficient condition for the sequence to be increasing.

To check if it's a necessary condition, consider λ=0\lambda = 0. In this case, an=na_{n} = n, which is clearly an increasing sequence. This shows that the condition "0<λ<20 \lt \lambda \lt 2" is not necessary for the sequence to be increasing, as the sequence can still be increasing outside this range of λ\lambda.

Therefore, "0<λ<20 \lt \lambda \lt 2" is a sufficient but not necessary condition for the sequence {an}\{a_{n}\} to be an increasing sequence.

Hence, the correct answer is A\boxed{\text{A}}: A sufficient but not necessary condition.

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Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.