Common terms in two APs

CAT 2019 Slot 2 · QA · Medium · Sequence & series

The number of common terms in the two sequences: 15,19,23,27,,41515, 19, 23, 27, \dots, 415 and 14,19,24,29,,46414, 19, 24, 29, \dots, 464 is

  1. A.

    20

  2. B.

    18

  3. C.

    21

  4. D.

    19

Answer

A

Explanation

First sequence: common difference d1=4d_1 = 4, last term 415415. Second sequence: common difference d2=5d_2 = 5, last term 464464.

The first common term is 1919. The common difference of common terms =LCM(4,5)=20= \text{LCM}(4, 5) = 20.

Common terms form an AP: 19,39,59,,Tk19, 39, 59, \dots, T_k. The maximum value Tkmin(415,464)=415T_k \le \min(415, 464) = 415. 19+(k1)2041519 + (k - 1)20 \le 415 20(k1)396    k119.8    k20.820(k - 1) \le 396 \implies k - 1 \le 19.8 \implies k \le 20.8

Thus, there are 20 common terms.

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