Solution 1
One approach is to sum an arithmetic series, find the value of a1, calculate a2, and sum another arithmetic series to get the answer. A quicker method is to substitue a2n−1=a2n−1 into the given equation:
(a2−1)+a2+(a4−1)+a4+…+(a98−1)+a98=137
Simplify the LHS:
2(a2+a4+…+a98)−49=137
Solve:
a2+a4+…+a98=2137+49=93
Solution 2
If a1 is the first term, then a1+a2+a3+⋯+a98=137 can be rewritten as:
98a1+1+2+3+⋯+97=137 ⇔ 98a1+297⋅98=137
Our desired value is a2+a4+a6+⋯+a98 so this is:
49a1+1+3+5+⋯+97
which is 49a1+492. So, from the first equation, we know 49a1=2137−297⋅49. So, the final answer is:
2137−97(49)+2(49)2=93.
Solution 3
A better approach to this problem is to notice that from a1+a2+⋯a98=137 that each element with an odd subscript is 1 from each element with an even subscript. Thus, we note that the sum of the odd elements must be 2137−49. Thus, if we want to find the sum of all of the even elements we simply add 49 common differences to this giving us 2137−49+49=93.
Or, since the sum of the odd elements is 44, then the sum of the even terms must be 93.
Solution 4
We want to find the value of a2+a4+a6+a8+…+a98, which can be rewritten as a1+1+a2+2+a3+…+a49+49⟹a1+a2+a3+…+a49+249⋅50. We can split a1+a2+a3+…+a98 into two parts:
a1+a2+a3+…+a49
and
a50+a51+a52+…+a98
Note that each term in the second expression is 49 greater than the corresponding term, so, letting the first equation be equal to x, we get a1+a2+a3+…+a98=137=2x+492⟹x=2137−492. Calculating 492 by sheer multiplication is not difficult, but you can also do (50−1)(50−1)=2500−100+1=2401. We want to find the value of x+249⋅50=x+49⋅25=x+1225. Since x=2137−2401, we find x=−1132. −1132+1225=93.
- PhunsukhWangdu
Solution 5
Since we are dealing with an arithmetic sequence,
a2+a4+a6+a8+…+a98=49a50
We can also figure out that
a1+a2+a3+…+a98=a1+97a50=137
a1=a50−49⇒98a50−49=137
Thus, 49a50=2137+49=93
~kempwood
Video Solution by OmegaLearn
https://youtu.be/re8DTg-Lbu0?t=234
~ pi_is_3.14