Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /487 of 520

Algebra Difficulty 4.6 AIME Prove it

Given that the product of the first nn terms of the sequence {an}\{a_{n}\} is TnT_{n}, and an+Tn=1a_{n}+T_{n}=1.
(1)(1) Prove that the sequence {1Tn}\left\{{\frac{1}{{{T_n}}}}\right\} forms an arithmetic sequence.
(2)(2) Prove that a2a1a1+a3a2a2++an+1anan<34\frac{{{a_2}-{a_1}}}{{{a_1}}}+\frac{{{a_3}-{a_2}}}{{{a_2}}}+…+\frac{{{a_{n+1}}-{a_n}}}{{{a_n}}}<\frac{3}{4}.

Solution

Proof:

(1) Given that an+Tn=1a_{n} + T_{n} = 1, and the product of the first nn terms of the sequence {an}\{a_{n}\} is TnT_{n}, we can write the relationship for the (n+1)th(n+1)^{th} term as follows:

- From an+Tn=1a_{n} + T_{n} = 1, we have Tn+1=an+1TnT_{n+1} = a_{n+1} \cdot T_{n}.
- Substituting an+1=1Tn+1a_{n+1} = 1 - T_{n+1} into the equation, we get Tn+1=(1Tn+1)TnT_{n+1} = (1 - T_{n+1}) \cdot T_{n}.
- Rearranging, we find Tn+1Tn+Tn+1=1\frac{T_{n+1}}{T_{n}} + T_{n+1} = 1.
- Solving for 1Tn\frac{1}{T_{n}}, we get 1Tn+1=1Tn+1\frac{1}{T_{n}} + 1 = \frac{1}{T_{n+1}}.
- Rearranging, 1Tn+11Tn=1\frac{1}{T_{n+1}} - \frac{1}{T_{n}} = 1.

Therefore, the sequence {1Tn}\left\{\frac{1}{T_{n}}\right\} forms an arithmetic sequence with a common difference of 11.

(2) Given an+Tn=1a_{n} + T_{n} = 1, for n=1n=1, we have a1+T1=1a_{1} + T_{1} = 1. Since T1=a1T_{1} = a_{1}, we find that a1=12a_{1} = \frac{1}{2}, and thus 1T1=2\frac{1}{T_{1}} = 2.

Knowing that {1Tn}\left\{\frac{1}{T_{n}}\right\} is an arithmetic sequence with the first term 22 and common difference 11, we can express 1Tn\frac{1}{T_{n}} as n+1n + 1. Therefore, Tn=1n+1T_{n} = \frac{1}{n+1}.

For n2n \geq 2, we find that an=TnTn1=1n+11n=nn+1a_{n} = \frac{T_{n}}{T_{n-1}} = \frac{\frac{1}{n+1}}{\frac{1}{n}} = \frac{n}{n+1}. This formula also holds for a1=12a_{1} = \frac{1}{2}, confirming that an=nn+1a_{n} = \frac{n}{n+1}.

Hence, we calculate the difference ratio as follows:
an+1anan=n+1n+2nn+1nn+1=1n(n+2)=12(1n1n+2) \frac{a_{n+1} - a_{n}}{a_{n}} = \frac{\frac{n+1}{n+2} - \frac{n}{n+1}}{\frac{n}{n+1}} = \frac{1}{n(n+2)} = \frac{1}{2}\left(\frac{1}{n} - \frac{1}{n+2}\right)

Summing these differences from n=1n=1 to nn yields:
n=1n12(1n1n+2)=12(11+121n+11n+2)=3412(1n+1+1n+2) \sum_{n=1}^{n} \frac{1}{2}\left(\frac{1}{n} - \frac{1}{n+2}\right) = \frac{1}{2}\left(\frac{1}{1} + \frac{1}{2} - \frac{1}{n+1} - \frac{1}{n+2}\right) = \frac{3}{4} - \frac{1}{2}\left(\frac{1}{n+1} + \frac{1}{n+2}\right)

Since 1n+1+1n+2>0\frac{1}{n+1} + \frac{1}{n+2} > 0, we conclude that:
3412(1n+1+1n+2)<34 \frac{3}{4} - \frac{1}{2}\left(\frac{1}{n+1} + \frac{1}{n+2}\right) < \frac{3}{4}

a2a1a1+a3a2a2++an+1anan<34\boxed{\therefore \frac{a_2 - a_1}{a_1} + \frac{a_3 - a_2}{a_2} + \ldots + \frac{a_{n+1} - a_n}{a_n} < \frac{3}{4}}

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

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