The Beauty of the Factorial Dance
Welcome, future engineer! Today, we are not just solving a math problem; we are embarking on a journey through the elegant world of permutations.
You have been presented with the ratio:
2n−1Pn2n+1Pn−1=2111
It looks intimidating, but in the JEE Advanced arena, complexity is often just a mask for a beautiful, hidden simplicity. Our mission is to unmask it.
Phase 1
Decoding the Permutation
First, let us ground ourselves in the fundamental definition. The permutation formula is our North Star:
nPr=(n−r)!n!
When we apply this to our numerator,
2n+1Pn−1, we get:
(2n+1−(n−1))!(2n+1)!=(n+2)!(2n+1)!
Now, let us turn our attention to the denominator,
2n−1Pn. Applying the same logic:
(2n−1−n)!(2n−1)!=(n−1)!(2n−1)!
Phase 2
The Art of Factorial Cancellation
Now, we assemble our pieces:
(n−1)!(2n−1)!(n+2)!(2n+1)!=2111
When we divide by a fraction, we multiply by its reciprocal:
(2n−1)!(2n+1)!⋅(n+2)!(n−1)!=2111
This is where the magic happens. We use the "peeling" technique to expand the larger factorials until they match the smaller ones:
(2n+1)!=(2n+1)(2n)(2n−1)!
(n+2)!=(n+2)(n+1)(n)(n−1)!
Substituting these back into our equation, the
(2n−1)! and
(n−1)! terms cancel out perfectly:
(n+2)(n+1)n(2n+1)(2n)=2111
Phase 3
The Quadratic Bridge
The
n in the numerator and the
n in the denominator cancel out (given
$n
eq 0$), leaving us with:
(n+2)(n+1)2(2n+1)=2111
Cross-multiplying gives us:
42(2n+1)=11(n2+3n+2)
84n+42=11n2+33n+22
Rearranging everything to one side, we arrive at the quadratic equation:
11n2−51n−20=0
Solving this via the middle-term split:
(n−5)(11n+4)=0
This yields two roots: n=5 and n=−114. Since n must be a positive integer, we discard the negative fraction and conclude that n=5.
The Final Victory
The final step is to evaluate
n2+n+15. Substituting
n=5:
52+5+15=25+5+15=45
You have navigated the permutations, mastered the factorials, and solved the quadratic. The final answer is 45.