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AMC 12 Mock Exam 5 Problem 13

Problem 13 of 25

What is the value of 11⋅2⋅3+12⋅3⋅4+13⋅4⋅5+⋯+120⋅21⋅22 ?\frac{1}{1\cdot2\cdot3}+\frac{1}{2\cdot3\cdot4}+\frac{1}{3\cdot4\cdot5}+\cdots+\frac{1}{20\cdot21\cdot22}\,?

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Solution

Since 1k(k+1)−1(k+1)(k+2)=(k+2)−kk(k+1)(k+2)=2k(k+1)(k+2)\frac{1}{k(k+1)}-\frac{1}{(k+1)(k+2)}=\frac{(k+2)-k}{k(k+1)(k+2)}=\frac{2}{k(k+1)(k+2)}, the sum telescopes: ∑k=1201k(k+1)(k+2)=12(11⋅2−121⋅22)=14−1924=230924=115462.\sum_{k=1}^{20}\frac{1}{k(k+1)(k+2)}=\frac12\left(\frac{1}{1\cdot2}-\frac{1}{21\cdot22}\right)=\frac14-\frac1{924}=\frac{230}{924}=\boxed{\tfrac{115}{462}}. (The distractor 209840=14−12⋅20⋅21\frac{209}{840}=\frac14-\frac{1}{2\cdot20\cdot21} comes from stopping the telescoping one term early.)

Tagged: telescoping sums