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jmc

algebra senior

Problem

Two arithmetic sequences and both begin with 30 and have common differences of absolute value 10, with sequence increasing and sequence decreasing. What is the absolute value of the difference between the 51st term of sequence and the 51st term of sequence ?
Solution
The th term of an arithmetic sequence whose first term is and whose common difference is is . Therefore, the th term of is , and the th term of is . Therefore, the positive difference between the th term of and the th term of is . Substituting , we find that the positive difference between the 51st terms of and is .
Final answer
1000