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2016 AMC 12B Problem 14

Problem 14 of 25IntermediateAlgebraProblem-Solving Techniques

The sum of an infinite geometric series is a positive number S,S, and the second term in the series is 1.1. What is the smallest possible value of S?S?

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Solution

Let rr be the common ratio. Since the second term is 1,1, the first term is 1r,\dfrac1r, so S=1r1−r=1r−r2.S=\dfrac{\frac{1}{r}}{1-r}=\dfrac{1}{r-r^2}. Convergence requires ∣r∣<1,|r|\lt1, and S>0S\gt0 then forces 0<r<1.0\lt r\lt1. Therefore SS is smallest when r−r2r-r^2 is largest. The parabola r−r2r-r^2 peaks at r=12,r=\tfrac12, where it equals 14,\tfrac14, so the smallest value of SS is 114=4.\dfrac{1}{\frac{1}{4}}=4. Thus, the correct answer is E.
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