sum of terms in a sequence

Brent@GMATPrepNow wrote:

josh80 wrote:For every integer k from 1 to 10, inclusive, the kth term of a certain sequence is given by (-1)^(k+1)[(1/2)^k)]. If T is the sum of first 10 terms in the sequence, then T is

A) greater than 2
B) between 1 and 2
C) between 1/2 and 1
D) between 1/4 and 1/2
E) less than 1/4

One way to solve this question is to apply the formula for what's known as a "geometric series," but I'm not really a fan of memorizing formulas. Another option is to get a better idea of this sum, by first finding a few terms:

T = 1/2 - 1/4 + 1/8 - 1/16 + . . .
We can rewrite this as T = (1/2 - 1/4) + (1/8 - 1/16) + . . .

When you start simplifying each part in brackets, you'll see a pattern emerge. We get...
T = 1/4 + 1/16 + 1/64 + 1/256 + 1/1024

Now examine the last 4 terms: 1/16 + 1/64 + 1/256 + 1/1024
Notice that 1/64, 1/256, and 1/1024 are each less than 1/16
So, (1/16 + 1/64 + 1/256 + 1/1024) < (1/16 + 1/16 + 1/16 + 1/16)

Note: 1/16 + 1/16 + 1/16 + 1/16 = 1/4
So, we can conclude that 1/16 + 1/64 + 1/256 + 1/1024 = (a number less than 1/4)

Now start from the beginning: T = 1/4 + (1/16 + 1/64 + 1/256 + 1/1024)
= 1/4 + (a number less 1/4)
= A number less than 1/2
Of course, we can also see that T > 1/4
So, [spoiler]1/4 < T < 1/2[/spoiler]

Answer: D

Cheers,
Brent

For every integer K from 1 to 10, inclusive the kth term of a certain sequence is given by (-1)^(k+1) (1/2^K).
If T is the sum of first 10 terms in the sequence, then T is

A. Greater than 2
B. Between 1 and 2
C. Between 1/2 to 1
D. Between 1/4 to1/2
E. Less than ¼

GMATGuruNY wrote:

For every integer K from 1 to 10, inclusive the kth term of a certain sequence is given by (-1)^(k+1) (1/2^K).
If T is the sum of first 10 terms in the sequence, then T is

A. Greater than 2
B. Between 1 and 2
C. Between 1/2 to 1
D. Between 1/4 to1/2
E. Less than ¼

Calculate until you see the pattern.
Some test-takers might find it helpful to visualize the sum on a number line.

If k=1, -1^(1+1)*(1/2*1) = 1/2
If k=2, -1^(2+1)*(1/2*2) = -1/4
Sum of the first two terms is 1/2 + ( -1/4) = 1/4.

If k=3, -1^(3+1)*(1/2*3) = 1/8.
If k=4, -1^(4+1)*(1/2*4) = -1/16

Now we can see the pattern.
The sum increases by a fraction (1/8, for example) and then decreases by a fraction 1/2 the size (1/16).
In other words, the sum will alternate between increasing a little and then decreasing a little less than it went up.

The sum of the first 2 terms is 1/4. From there, the sum will increase by 1/8, decrease by a smaller fraction (1/16), increase by an even smaller fraction (1/32), and so on. Here are the first four terms, plotted on a number line:



Since all of the fractions after the first two terms will be less than 1/4, the sum will end up somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2.

The correct answer is D.