Let a1,a2,… be an arithmetic sequence and b1,b2,… be a geometric sequence. Suppose that a1b1=20, a2b2=19, and a3b3=14. Find the greatest possible value of a4b4.
A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.
Solution
Solution 1. Let {an} have common difference d and {bn} have common ratio r; for brevity, let a1=a and b1=b. Then we have the equations ab=20,(a+d)br=19, and (a+2d)br2=14, and we want to maximize (a+3d)br3. The equation (a+d)br=19 expands as abr+dbr=19, or 20r+bdr=19 since ab=20. Similarly, (20+2bd)r2=14, or 10r2+bdr2=7. Multiplying the first equation by r and subtracting the second, we get 10r2=19r−7⟹(5r−7)(2r−1)=0 so either r=57 or r=21. For each value of r, we have bd=r19−20r=r19−20, so (a+3d)br3=(20+3bd)r3=(r57−40)r3=r2(57−40r) The greater value of this expression is 437, achieved when r=21.
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