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jmc

algebra intermediate

Problem

In an increasing sequence of four positive integers, the first three terms form an arithmetic progression, the last three terms form a geometric progression, and the first and fourth terms differ by Find the sum of the four terms.
Solution
Denote the first three terms by and where and are positive integers; then the fourth term is Since the last three terms form an arithmetic sequence, we have or Solving for we get Since is positive, we must have We construct a sign table for this expression: \begin{array}{c|ccc|c} &$d$ &$2d-15$ &$-d+10$ &$f(d)$ \\ \hline$d<0$ &$-%%DISP_0%%amp;$-%%DISP_0%%amp;$+%%DISP_0%%amp;$+$\\ [.1cm]$0<d<\frac{15}{2}$ &$+%%DISP_0%%amp;$-%%DISP_0%%amp;$+%%DISP_0%%amp;$-$\\ [.1cm]$\frac{15}{2}<d<10$ &$+%%DISP_0%%amp;$+%%DISP_0%%amp;$+%%DISP_0%%amp;$+$\\ [.1cm]$d>10$ &$+%%DISP_0%%amp;$+%%DISP_0%%amp;$-%%DISP_0%%amp;$-$\\ [.1cm]\end{array}Since we must have which only gives two possible integer values for namely and For we get which is not an integer, so we must have and Then the sum of the four terms is
Final answer
129