document.write( "Question 1178119: An infinite increasing list of numbers has the property that the median of the
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document.write( "first n terms equals the nth odd positive integer. How many numbers in the
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document.write( "list are less than 2018? \n" );
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Algebra.Com's Answer #807304 by Edwin McCravy(20065) You can put this solution on YOUR website! An infinite increasing list of numbers has the property that the median of \n" ); document.write( "the first n terms equals the nth odd positive integer. \n" ); document.write( " \r\n" ); document.write( "Let the first 3 terms be a,b,c, where a < b < c. the median is b.\r\n" ); document.write( "There are 3 terms, the 3rd odd integer is 5, so b=5.\r\n" ); document.write( "The sequence so far is a,5,c. \r\n" ); document.write( "\r\n" ); document.write( "Let the first 4 terms be a,5,c,d where a < 5 < c < d. the median is (5+c)/2.\r\n" ); document.write( "There are 4 terms, the 4th odd integer is 7, so \r\n" ); document.write( "(5+c)/2=7\r\n" ); document.write( " 5+c=14\r\n" ); document.write( " c=9\r\n" ); document.write( "The sequence so far is a,5,9,d.\r\n" ); document.write( "\r\n" ); document.write( "Let the first 5 terms be a,5,9,d,e where a < b < c < d < e. the median is 9.\r\n" ); document.write( "There are 5 terms, the 5th odd integer is 9.\r\n" ); document.write( "The sequence so far is a,5,9,d,e.\r\n" ); document.write( "\r\n" ); document.write( "Let the first 6 terms be a,5,9,d,e,f where a < b < c < d < e < f. the median\r\n" ); document.write( "is (9+d)/2. There are 6 terms, the 6th odd integer is 11.\r\n" ); document.write( "(9+d)/2=11\r\n" ); document.write( " 9+d=22\r\n" ); document.write( " d=13\r\n" ); document.write( "The sequence so far is a,5,9,13,e,f.\r\n" ); document.write( "\r\n" ); document.write( "We guess from the middle 3 terms that the sequence is the arithmetic\r\n" ); document.write( "sequence 1,5,9,13,17,21,...\r\n" ); document.write( "\r\n" ); document.write( "If so, the nth term is\r\n" ); document.write( "\r\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " |