The sum of n and n−1 terms of an AP is 441 and 356 , respectively. If the first term of the AP is 13 and the common difference is equal to the number of terms, find the common difference of the AP.
Q. The sum of n and n−1 terms of an AP is 441 and 356 , respectively. If the first term of the AP is 13 and the common difference is equal to the number of terms, find the common difference of the AP.
Arithmetic Progression Formula: The sum of the first n terms of an arithmetic progression (AP) is given by the formula:Sn=2n[2a+(n−1)d]where Sn is the sum of the first n terms, a is the first term, n is the number of terms, and d is the common difference.
Equation for Sum of n Terms: Given that the sum of the first n terms is 441, we can write the equation:441=2n[2(13)+(n−1)d]Simplifying, we get:441=2n[26+(n−1)d]
Equation for Sum of n−1 Terms: Similarly, the sum of the first n−1 terms is 356, so we can write the equation:356=2n−1[2(13)+(n−2)d]Simplifying, we get:356=2n−1[26+(n−2)d]
Substitute Common Difference: We are given that the common difference d is equal to the number of terms n. So we can replace d with n in our equations:For the sum of n terms:441=2n[26+(n−1)n]For the sum of n−1 terms:356=2n−1[26+(n−2)n]
Expand and Simplify Equations: Now we have two equations with one variable n. We can solve these equations simultaneously to find the value of n. Let's first expand and simplify both equations:For the sum of n terms:441=2n[26+n2−n]441=2n[n2+25]882=n(n2+25)n3+25n−882=0For the sum of n−1 terms:356=2n−1[26+n2−2n]356=2n−1[n2−2n+26]712=(n−1)(n2−2n+26)n3−2n2+26n−n2+2n−26=712n3−3n2+28n−26−712=0n3−3n2+28n−738=0
Correct Expansion of Second Equation: We notice that there is a mistake in the previous step. The expansion of the second equation is incorrect. Let's correct it and expand the equation properly:712=(n−1)(n2−2n+26)712=n3−2n2+26n−n2+2n−26712=n3−3n2+28n−26n3−3n2+28n−738=0This is the correct expansion of the second equation.
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