The sum of the first two terms of an infinite geometric series is 15 a...
Given:
- The sum of the first two terms of an infinite geometric series is 15.
- Each term is equal to the sum of all the terms following it.
To find: Solution:Let the first term of the series be 'a' and the common ratio be 'r'.
Then, the given information can be expressed as:
- a + ar = 15 (sum of first two terms is 15)
- a = ar + ar^2 + ar^3 + ... (each term equals the sum of all the terms following it)
Solving the first equation for 'a', we get:
Substituting this value of 'a' in the second equation, we get:
- 15/(1+r) = r(1 + 15/(1+r) + 15/(1+r)^2 + ...)
Multiplying both sides by (1+r) and simplifying, we get:
- 15 = r(1 + 15/(1-r))
- 15 = r((1-r + 15)/(1-r))
- 15(1-r) = r(16-r)
- 15 - 15r = 16r - r^2
- r^2 - 16r + 15 = 0
- (r-1)(r-15) = 0
So, r can be either 1 or 15.
If r = 1, then a = 7.5 (from the first equation) and the sum of the series is infinite.
If r = 15, then a = 0.5 (from the first equation) and the sum of the series is:
- S = a/(1-r) = 0.5/(1-15) = -1/28
But since the sum of a geometric series must be a positive number, we can conclude that the series diverges when r = 1 and the sum of the series when r = 15 is -1/28.
Therefore, the sum of the series is -1/28.