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Algebra Difficulty 4.6 AIME Prove it

Given a sequence {an}\{a_n\} with its sum of the first nn terms SnS_n satisfying the condition 2Sn=3(an1)2S_n = 3(a_n - 1), where nNn \in \mathbb{N}^*.
(1) Prove that the sequence {an}\{a_n\} forms a geometric sequence;
(2) Let another sequence {bn}\{b_n\} satisfy bn=log3anb_n = \log_3 a_n. If cn=anbnc_n = a_n b_n, find the sum of the first nn terms of the sequence {cn}\{c_n\}.

Solution

(1) According to the problem, we have an=SnSn1=32(anan1)(n2)a_n = S_n - S_{n-1} = \frac{3}{2}(a_n - a_{n-1}) \quad (n \geq 2) Therefore, we can simplify this to obtain an=3an1a_n = 3a_{n-1} which leads to anan1=3(n2)\frac{a_n}{a_{n-1}} = 3 \quad (n \geq 2) This indicates that for n2n \geq 2, the ratio anan1\frac{a_n}{a_{n-1}} is constant and equal to 3. This is the common ratio of the geometric sequence.

Moreover, for the first term, S1=32(a11)=a1S_1 = \frac{3}{2}(a_1 - 1) = a_1 Solving for a1a_1 yields a1=3a_1 = 3. Since we have a common ratio and a first term, the sequence {an}\{a_n\} forms a geometric sequence.

(2) Since we determined that the sequence {an}\{a_n\} is geometric with a common ratio of 3 and first term a1=3a_1 = 3, we can write an=3na_n = 3^n. Then, bnb_n can be expressed as bn=log3an=nb_n = \log_3 a_n = n which means that cn=anbn=n3nc_n = a_n b_n = n \cdot 3^n Let's denote the sum of the first nn terms of the sequence {cn}\{c_n\} by TnT_n. Consider Tn=131+232++(n1)3n1+n3nT_n = 1 \cdot 3^1 + 2 \cdot 3^2 + \ldots + (n-1) \cdot 3^{n-1} + n \cdot 3^nMultiplying the entire sum by 3, we get 3Tn=132+233++(n1)3n+n3n+13T_n = 1 \cdot 3^2 + 2 \cdot 3^3 + \ldots + (n-1) \cdot 3^n + n \cdot 3^{n+1} Subtracting these two equations, we obtain 2Tn=(31+32++3n)n3n+1=3(13n)13n3n+1-2T_n = (3^1 + 3^2 + \ldots + 3^n) - n \cdot 3^{n+1} = \frac{3(1 - 3^n)}{1-3} - n \cdot 3^{n+1} Simplifying further, we have Tn=(2n1)3n+1+34T_n = \frac{(2n-1) \cdot 3^{n+1} + 3}{4} Thus, the sum of the first nn terms of {cn}\{c_n\} is Tn=(2n1)3n+1+34\boxed{T_n = \frac{(2n-1) \cdot 3^{n+1} + 3}{4}}

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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.