Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.2 AIME, harder Find the answer

Evaluate the sum 121+1+122+1+123+1++12100+1\frac{1}{2\lfloor\sqrt{1}\rfloor+1}+\frac{1}{2\lfloor\sqrt{2}\rfloor+1}+\frac{1}{2\lfloor\sqrt{3}\rfloor+1}+\cdots+\frac{1}{2\lfloor\sqrt{100}\rfloor+1}

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

Solution

The first three terms all equal 1/31 / 3, then the next five all equal 1/51 / 5; more generally, for each a=1,2,,9a=1,2, \ldots, 9, the terms 1/(2a2+1)1 /(2\lfloor\sqrt{a^{2}}\rfloor+1) to 1/(2a2+2a+1)1 /(2\lfloor\sqrt{a^{2}+2 a}\rfloor+1) all equal 1/(2a+1)1 /(2 a+1), and there are 2a+12 a+1 such terms. Thus our terms can be arranged into 9 groups, each with sum 1 , and only the last term 1/(2100+1)1 /(2\lfloor\sqrt{100}\rfloor+1) remains, so the answer is 9+1/21=190/219+1 / 21=190 / 21.

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