Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / HMMT November /141 of 672

HMMT November

Algebra Difficulty 4.8 AIME Find the answer

Find the sum of 1n\frac{1}{n} over all positive integers nn with the property that the decimal representation of 1n\frac{1}{n} terminates.

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solution

The decimal representation of 1n\frac{1}{n} terminates if and only if n=2i5jn=2^{i} 5^{j} for some nonnegative integers i,ji, j, so our desired sum is ∑i≥0∑j≥02−i5−j=∑i≥02−i∑j≥05−j=(1−2−1)−1(1−5−1)−1=2154=52\sum_{i \geq 0} \sum_{j \geq 0} 2^{-i} 5^{-j}=\sum_{i \geq 0} 2^{-i} \sum_{j \geq 0} 5^{-j}=\left(1-2^{-1}\right)^{-1}\left(1-5^{-1}\right)^{-1}=\frac{2}{1} \frac{5}{4}=\frac{5}{2}

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,604 problems in a working order, from Junior Challenge level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: Omni-MATH, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.