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Worked Examples · Example 5

Q.Which term of the G.P., 2,8,32,…2, 8, 32, \ldots up to nn terms is 131072131072?

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✓ Free question

In a geometric progression, each term is the first term multiplied by the common ratio raised to the power (n−1)(n-1). For the G.P. 2,8,32,…2, 8, 32, \ldots, the common ratio is 44, and solving 2⋅4k−1=1310722 \cdot 4^{k-1} = 131072 gives k=9k = 9. So the 9th term is 131072131072.

A geometric progression (G.P.) is a sequence where each term after the first is obtained by multiplying the previous term by a fixed number called the common ratio (rr). The key idea is that the terms grow (or shrink) by a constant factor, not a constant difference.

Here, the sequence is 2,8,32,…2, 8, 32, \ldots.

To find the common ratio, divide any term by the one before it:

8÷2=48 \div 2 = 4, and 32÷8=432 \div 8 = 4. So r=4r = 4.

The general term (the kk-th term) of a G.P. with first term aa and common ratio rr is given by:

Tk=a⋅r k−1T_k = a \cdot r^{\,k-1}

For this problem, a=2a = 2, r=4r = 4, and we want Tk=131072T_k = 131072.

  1. Set up the equation Substitute the known values into the formula:

2⋅4 k−1=1310722 \cdot 4^{\,k-1} = 131072

  1. Isolate the power Divide both sides by 22:

4 k−1=1310722=655364^{\,k-1} = \frac{131072}{2} = 65536

  1. Express both sides as powers of the same base

    Since 4=224 = 2^2, we can rewrite 4 k−14^{\,k-1} as (22)k−1=22(k−1)(2^2)^{k-1} = 2^{2(k-1)}.

    Now, 6553665536 is a power of 22. Let's find which one.

    You can check by repeated doubling: 210=10242^{10} = 1024, 211=20482^{11} = 2048, 212=40962^{12} = 4096, 213=81922^{13} = 8192, 214=163842^{14} = 16384, 215=327682^{15} = 32768, 216=655362^{16} = 65536.

    So 65536=21665536 = 2^{16}.

    Tip

    A faster way: 65536=64×1024=26×210=21665536 = 64 \times 1024 = 2^6 \times 2^{10} = 2^{16}. Knowing powers of 22 up to 2102^{10} is very handy for such problems.

  2. Equate the exponents

    Now we have:

22(k−1)=2162^{2(k-1)} = 2^{16}

Since the bases are equal (and 2≠12 \neq 1), the exponents must be equal:

2(k−1)=162(k-1) = 16

  1. Solve for kk Divide both sides by 22:

k−1=8k-1 = 8

So k=9k = 9.

Watch out

A common mistake is to write Tk=arkT_k = a r^k instead of ark−1a r^{k-1}. The first term corresponds to k=1k=1, so the exponent must be k−1k-1 to give r0=1r^0 = 1. If you used kk instead, you'd get k=10k=10, which is off by one.

Thus, the 9th term of the G.P. is 131072131072.

✓Final answer

The 9th term of the G.P. is 131072131072.

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