Difference between revisions of "1981 AHSME Problems/Problem 14"

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Revision as of 14:01, 28 June 2025

Problem

In a geometric sequence of real numbers, the sum of the first $2$ terms is $7$, and the sum of the first $6$ terms is $91$. The sum of the first $4$ terms is

$\textbf{(A)}\ 28\qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 32\qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 35\qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 49\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 84$

Solution 1

Denote the sum of the first $2$ terms as $x$. Since we know that the sum of the first $6$ terms is $91$ which is $7 \cdot 13$, we have $x$ + $xy$ + $xy^2$ = $13x$ because it is a geometric series. We can quickly see that $y$ = $3$, and therefore, the sum of the first $4$ terms is $4x = 4 \cdot 7 = \boxed {(A) 28}$

~Arcticturn

See also

1981 AHSME (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 11
Followed by
Problem 13
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
All AHSME Problems and Solutions

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