Analyzing the Setup
We are tasked with finding the number of arithmetic progressions that start at a=100 and end at l=199, where the common difference d is an integer. The number of terms n is constrained by the condition 3≤n≤33.
The general term formula for an arithmetic progression is given by:
Substituting our known values, we obtain:
The Master Equation
By rearranging the terms, we isolate the total gap between the start and the finish:
This equation implies that the total gap of 99 must be perfectly partitioned into (n−1) jumps of integer size d.
The Number Theory Constraint
Since d must be an integer, (n−1) must be a divisor of 99. We identify the divisors of 99 by finding all pairs of integers that multiply to 99:
Thus, the set of possible values for (n−1) is {1,3,9,11,33,99}.
The Filter of Reality
We must satisfy the constraint 3≤n≤33. Subtracting 1 from each part of this inequality, we define the valid range for the number of jumps:
Applying this filter to our set of divisors {1,3,9,11,33,99}, we find that only 3,9, and 11 fall within the range [2,32].
Final Calculation
We now calculate the common difference d for each valid case using the relation d=n−199:
1. For n−1=3, we have d=399=33.
2. For n−1=9, we have d=999=11.
3. For n−1=11, we have d=1199=9.
The possible values for the common difference d are 33,11, and 9. The sum of these values is:
The final result is 53.