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JEE Advanced 2018 Paper 2 · Mathematics · Sequences and Series · medium

Find the value of Σk=0^∞(k^2+k+1)/((k+2)!).

Numerical answer

Find the value of ∑k=0∞k2+k+1(k+2)!\displaystyle\sum_{k=0}^{\infty}\dfrac{k^{2}+k+1}{(k+2)!}. Give the answer correct to two decimal places.
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Answer: 1.44

Write the numerator in terms of m=k+2m=k+2: k2+k+1=(m−2)2+(m−2)+1=m2−3m+3k^{2}+k+1=(m-2)^{2}+(m-2)+1=m^{2}-3m+3. The sum becomes ∑m=2∞m2−3m+3m!\sum_{m=2}^{\infty}\frac{m^{2}-3m+3}{m!}. Now m2m!=1(m−2)!+1(m−1)!\frac{m^{2}}{m!}=\frac{1}{(m-2)!}+\frac{1}{(m-1)!} and mm!=1(m−1)!\frac{m}{m!}=\frac{1}{(m-1)!}, so m2−3m+3m!=1(m−2)!−2(m−1)!+3m!\frac{m^{2}-3m+3}{m!}=\frac{1}{(m-2)!}-\frac{2}{(m-1)!}+\frac{3}{m!}. Summing from m=2m=2 gives e−2(e−1)+3(e−2)=2e−4e-2(e-1)+3(e-2)=2e-4. Numerically 2e−4=1.436562e-4=1.43656, and a direct partial sum of the original series agrees. The answer rounds to 1.441.44. The factorial shift is the main idea: shifting the index to m=k+2m=k+2 lets us express everything through shifted exponential series. Series of the form ∑P(m)m!\sum \frac{P(m)}{m!} with a polynomial numerator always sum to a combination re+sre+s with rational r,sr,s, so the final value here is 2e−42e-4 without any numerical approximation.
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