IOQM ASSIGNMENTS: TELESCOPING METHOD

PANKAJ AGARWAL

Exercise 1. Evaluate:
360
X 1
√ √ .
k=1
k k + 1 + (k + 1) k
(Purple Comet, High School – 2005)
Exercise 2. Define
ak = (k 2 + 1)k!, bk = a1 + a2 + · · · + ak .
a100
Evaluate b100
. (Purple Comet, 2003)
Exercise 3. Let s s
 2  2
1 1
an = 1+ 1− + 1+ 1+ .
n n
Evaluate:
1 1 1
+ + ··· + .
a1 a2 a20
(Purple Comet, 2003)
Exercise 4. Evaluate:
     
1 1 1 1
1− 2 1− 3 1− 4 . . . 1 − 29 .
2 −1 2 −1 2 −1 2 −1
(Purple Comet, Middle School, 2022)
Exercise 5. For integers k ≥ 1, let
k
ak = .
4k 4 +1
Find the least integer n such that
n
X 505.45
ak > .
k=1
2022

(Purple Comet, High School, 2022)

Exercise 6. Evaluate the product:
    
1+1 1 2+1 1 3+1 1 2022 + 1 1
+ + + + .
12 + 1 4 22 + 1 4 32 + 1 4 20222 + 1 4
(Purple Comet, High School, 2022)
1
Exercise 7. Evaluate the product:
     
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
+ + + ... + .
23 − 1 2 33 − 1 2 43 − 1 2 1003 − 1 2
(Purple Comet, High School, 2021)
k(k+1)
Exercise 8. Let Tk = 2
be the k-th triangular number. Evaluate:
∞
X 1
.
k=4
(Tk−1 − 1)(Tk − 1)(Tk+1 − 1)

(Purple Comet, High School, 2017)

Exercise 9. Evaluate the product:
     
1 1 1 1
1+ 1+ 1+ ... 1 +
1 + 21 1 + 22 1 + 23 1 + 210
(Purple Comet, High School, 2015)
Exercise 10. Determine the value of:
√ √ √ √
q q q q
5 + 5 − 9 − 11 + 11 − 9 + 17 + 17 − 9 − 23 + 232 − 9
2 2 2

√ √
q q
+ 29 + 29 − 9 − · · · + 797 + 7972 − 9.
2

(El Salvador, 2021)

Exercise 11. Evaluate:
1 2 3 99
+ + + · · · + .
1 + 1 2 + 14 1 + 2 2 + 2 4 1 + 3 2 + 34 1 + 992 + 994
(NTSE Haryana, Stage-I, 2013–14)
Exercise 12. Evaluate:
(104 + 324)(224 + 324)(464 + 324)(584 + 324)
.
(44 + 324)(164 + 324)(284 + 324)(404 + 324)(524 + 324)
(AIME-1987; NTSE AP, 2014–15)
Exercise 13. Find the value of:
(34 + 32 + 1)(54 + 52 + 1)(74 + 72 + 1)(94 + 92 + 1)(114 + 112 + 1)(134 + 132 + 1)
.
(24 + 22 + 1)(44 + 42 + 1)(64 + 62 + 1)(84 + 82 + 1)(104 + 102 + 1)(124 + 122 + 1)
(Pre-RMO 2016, Delhi Region)
Exercise 14. Evaluate:
r r r r
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 2 + ··· + 1 + 2
+ .
1 2 2 3 3 4 2012 20132
(Hong Kong IMO Preliminary, 2013)
2
Exercise 15. Evaluate:
2002
X k+2
.
k=1
k! + (k + 1)! + (k + 2)!
(Hong Kong IMO Preliminary, 2004)
Exercise 16. If
1 1 1 1 1 1
A= + + ··· + , B= + + ··· + ,
1·2 3·4 2003 · 2004 1003 · 2004 1004 · 2003 2004 × 1003
A
evaluate B . (Hong Kong IMO Preliminary, 2004)
Exercise 17. Evaluate:
1 2 3 100
2 4
+ 2 4
+ 2 4
+ ··· + .
1+1 +1 1+2 +2 1+3 +3 1 + 1002 + 1004
(Hong Kong IMO Preliminary, 2005)
Exercise 18. Let
1 1 1 1
f (n) = n
+ n + n + ··· +
2 3 4 2017n
find
f (2) + f (3) + f (4) + · · · .
(Hong Kong IMO Preliminary, 2017)
Exercise 19. Consider the following 50-term sums:
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
S= + + +· · ·+ , T = + + +· · ·+ + .
1·2 3·4 5·6 99 · 100 51 · 100 52 · 99 53 · 98 99 · 52 100 · 51
Express TS as an irreducible fraction. (Argentina National Olympiad, 2014)
Exercise 20. Decide whether Sn or Tn is larger, where
n n
X k X 1
Sn = , Tn = .
k=1
(2n − 2k + 1)(2n − k + 1) k=1
k
(Vietnam National Olympiad, 1983)
Exercise 21. Evaluate: s
40
X 1 1
1+ 2
+ .
k=1
k (k + 1)2
Exercise 22. If
N
X 2k + 1
2 + k)2
= 0.9999,
k=1
(k
determine the value of N . (IOQM, 2020–21)
Exercise 23. Let
1 1 1 1 1
S = 1 + √ + √ + √ + ··· + √ + √ .
2 3 4 99 100
Find the greatest integer less than or equal to S. (Pre-RMO 2016, West Bengal Region)
3
Exercise 24. If p
2n + 1 + n(n + 1)
f (n) = √ √
n+1+ n
for all positive integers n, then evaluate the sum
400
X
f (k).
k=1

Exercise 25. Find the consecutive integers bounded by the expression

1 1 1 1 1
+ + + ··· + + ,
x1 + 1 x2 + 1 x3 + 1 x2001 + 1 x2002 + 1
where
x1 = 3, xn+1 = x2n + xn .
Exercise 26. Prove that:
22 + 1 32 + 1 20102 + 1 1
2010 < 2
+ 2
+ · · · + 2
< 2010 + .
2 −1 3 −1 2010 − 1 2
Exercise 27. Evaluate:
1 1 1 1
√ √ + √ √ + √ √ + ··· + √ √ .
2 1+1 2 3 2+2 3 4 3+3 4 400 399 + 399 400
Exercise 28. Let n
X 1
Sn = √ √ .
k=0
k+1+ k
Find
99
X 1
.
n=1 n
S + Sn−1
(Pre-RMO 2013)
Exercise 29. Evaluate:
9
X 1
.
n=1
n(n + 1)(n + 2)
(Pre-RMO 2017)
Exercise 30. Find the greatest integer less than or equal to:
1599
X 1
.
n=1
n
(Pre-RMO 2019)
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