Olympiad Maths Prep

Track / Stage 3 / 14 of 260 #14 of 2000

Problem 14

AMC 10/12, early questions
Algebra Difficulty 3.0 Find the answer

Given an arithmetic sequence \{an}\{a_n\} with a common difference of \33, if \a1a_1, \a3a_3, and \a4a_4 form a geometric sequence, then \a_2=\ \_\_\_\_\_\_.

Official solution

Since the common difference of the arithmetic sequence \{an}\{a_n\} is \33, and \a1a_1, \a3a_3, \a4a_4 form a geometric sequence,
we have \(a_1+6)^2=a_1(a_1+9)\.
Thus, \a_1=-12\,
and therefore \a_2=-9\.
So, the answer is: \\boxed{-9}\.
From the condition \(a_1+6)^2=a_1(a_1+9)\, we deduce that \a_1=-12\, which leads to the conclusion.
This problem tests the general term of an arithmetic sequence and involves the application of the geometric mean, classified as a medium-level question.

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