CAT 2004QA Question 27

Infinite Geometric ProgressionEasy
Passage / Data

Answer the following question based on the information given below.

In an examination, there are 100 questions divided into three groups A, B and C such that each group contains at least one question. Each question in group A carries 1 mark, each question in group B carries 2 marks and each question in group C carries 3 marks. It is known that the questions in group A together carry at least 60% of the total marks.

Consider the sequence of numbers a1, a2, a3, ... to infinity where a1 = 81.33 and a2 = –19 and aj = aj–1 aj–2 for j ≥ 3. What is the sum of the first 6002 terms of this sequence?

Answer & solution

  • A

    -100.33

  • B

    -30.00

  • 62.33

  • D

    119.33

Solution

a1 = 81.33
a2 = –19
a3a2 ​​​​​​​- a1 = –100.33
a4a3 ​​​​​​​- a2 ​​​​​​​ = –81.33
a5a4 ​​​​​​​- a3 ​​​​​​​ = 19
a6a5 ​​​​​​​- a4 ​​​​​​​ = 100.33
a7a2 ​​​​​​​- a5 ​​​​​​​ = 81.33
a8a7 ​​​​​​​- a6 = –19

We can see that the sequence repeats itself after every 6 terms.

Sum of the first 6 terms of the sequence = 0

Thus, the sum of the first 6000 terms of this sequence = 0

The sum of the 6001st and 6002nd terms = 81.33 – 19 = 62.33

Hence, option (c).

CAT 2004 QA Q27: Consider the sequence of numbers a 1 , a 2 , a 3 , ... to infinity where a 1 = 81.33 and a 2 = –19 and a — Solution | TheCATExam