Carcass wrote:
In a sequence
a1,
a2, …, each term is defined as
an=12n. Which of the following expressions represents the sum of the first 10 terms of
an ?
(A)
1−1210(B)
1−129(C)
1+129(D)
1+1210(E)
1+1211Kudos for the right answer and explanation
Question part of the project GRE Quantitative Reasoning Daily Challenge - (2021) EDITIONGRE - Math BookLet's
look for a patternIf
n=1, the sequence is
12. So the SUM =
12If
n=2, the sequence is
12,
14. So the SUM =
34If
n=3, the sequence is
12,
14,
18. So the SUM =
78If
n=4, the sequence is
12,
14,
18,
116. So the SUM =
1516At this point, we may notice that the SUM is always less than 1.
So, we can ELIMINATE C, D and E
Now examine the remaining answer choices (A and B).
This gives us a hint about the correct answer.
Notice that, when we have
n terms, the SUM is always
12n LESS THAN 1
The last term in the given sequence is
1210So, the sum will equal
1−1210Answer: A
Cheers,
Brent