Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 4.7 AIME Find the answer

Let z=12iz=1-2 i. Find 1z+2z2+3z3+\frac{1}{z}+\frac{2}{z^{2}}+\frac{3}{z^{3}}+\cdots.

A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.

Solution

Let x=1z+2z2+3z3+x=\frac{1}{z}+\frac{2}{z^{2}}+\frac{3}{z^{3}}+\cdots, so zx=(1+2z+3z2+4z3+)z \cdot x=\left(1+\frac{2}{z}+\frac{3}{z^{2}}+\frac{4}{z^{3}}+\cdots\right). Then zxx=z \cdot x-x= 1+1z+1z2+1z3+=111/z=zz11+\frac{1}{z}+\frac{1}{z^{2}}+\frac{1}{z^{3}}+\cdots=\frac{1}{1-1 / z}=\frac{z}{z-1}. Solving for xx in terms of zz, we obtain x=z(z1)2x=\frac{z}{(z-1)^{2}}. Plugging in the original value of zz produces x=(2i1)/4x=(2 i-1) / 4.

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