Join the USAMO Guide Discord Server. Regular updates are posted there!

Let me Join!
Dismiss

Berkeley Math Circle Monthly Contest 4 #0hof

Berkeley Math Circle Monthly Contest 4Hard

From module Sequences and Series II

Community difficultyNo ratings yetBe the first to rate this problem.
Understand the scale
Scale 0.5: Easiest math competition problems, often solvable even for early middle school students without experience. 1: Problems strictly for beginners, often at a moderate middle school level. 1.5: Problems for stronger beginner students, on the level of the middling problems in most middle school contests. 2: For motivated beginners, harder questions from the previous categories. 2.5: More advanced beginner problems, hardest questions from previous categories. 3: Early intermediate problems that require more creative thinking. 3.5: Tougher early intermediate problems that consistently stretch into higher-level creative thinking or conceptual knowledge. 4: Intermediate-level problems. 4.5: Upper intermediate problems approaching the upper bound for non-invitational sprint math competitions. 5: More difficult AIME problems or simple proof-based Olympiad-style problems. 6: High-level AIME-styled questions or introductory Olympiad-level questions. 7: Tougher Olympiad-level questions, may require more technical knowledge. 8: High-level Olympiad-level questions. 9: Expert Olympiad-level questions. 9.5: The hardest problems appearing on Olympiads which the strongest students could reasonably solve. 10: Historically notorious problems, generally unsuitable for even very hard competitions because they are exceedingly tedious, long, and difficult.
Telescoping seriesSums and products

Problem

Problem: Determine whether the number

121+12+132+23+143+34+⋯+110099+99100\frac{1}{2 \sqrt{1}+1 \sqrt{2}}+\frac{1}{3 \sqrt{2}+2 \sqrt{3}}+\frac{1}{4 \sqrt{3}+3 \sqrt{4}}+\cdots+\frac{1}{100 \sqrt{99}+99 \sqrt{100}}

is rational or irrational. Explain your answer.

← Back to all problems