The 4$^\mathrm{th}$ term of GP is 500 and its common ratio is $\frac{1}{m},m\in\mathbb{N}$. Let $\mathrm{S_n}$ denote the sum of the first n terms of this GP. If $\mathrm{S_6 > S_5 + 1}$ and $\mathrm{S_7 < S_6 + \frac{1}{2}}$, then the number of possible values of m is ___________
Answer (integer)
12
Solution
$T_{4}=500$
<br/><br/>
$a r^{3}=500 \Rightarrow a=\frac{500}{r^{3}}$
<br/><br/>
Now,
<br/><br/>
$$
\begin{aligned}
& S_{6} > S_{5}+1 \\\\
& \frac{a\left(1-r^{6}\right)}{1-r}-\frac{a\left(1-r^{5}\right)}{1-r} > 1 \\\\
& a r^{5} > 1 \\\\
& \text { Now, } r=\frac{1}{m} \text { and } a=\frac{500}{r^{3}} \\\\
& \Rightarrow \quad m^{2} < 500 \\\\
& \because m > 0 \Rightarrow m \in(0,10 \sqrt{5}) \\\\
& \quad S_{7} < S_{6}+\frac{1}{2} \\\\
& \quad \frac{a\left(1-r^{6}\right)}{1-r}<\frac{a\left(1-r^{6}\right)}{1-r}+\frac{1}{2} \\\\
& \quad a r^{6}<\frac{1}{2}
\end{aligned}
$$
<br/><br/>
$\because r=\frac{1}{m}$ and $a=\frac{500}{r^{5}}$
<br/><br/>
$\frac{1}{m^{3}}<\frac{1}{1000}$
<br/><br/>
$\Rightarrow m \in(10, \infty)$
<br/><br/>
Possible values of $m$ is $\{11,12,....22 \}$
<br/><br/>
$\because m \in N$
<br/><br/>
Total 12 values
About this question
Subject: Mathematics · Chapter: Sequences and Series · Topic: Arithmetic Progression
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