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Geometric series

Problem 7.147 · medium

Does \( \displaystyle \sum_{n=1}^{\infty} - 5 \left(- \frac{2}{3}\right)^{n - 1} \) converge? If so, find its sum.
  1. \[ -5 \]
    The first term, a.✓ Proved
  2. \[ - \frac{2}{3} \]
    The common ratio, r.✓ Proved
  3. |r| = 2/3 < 1, so the series converges to a/(1 − r).
    Reviewed
  4. \[ -3 \]
    a/(1 − r).✓ Proved
Answer \( -3 \)

✓ Nihil obstat Lines: 3 proved, 1 reviewed. The answer was also checked a second way, without looking at the solution. Reviewers found nothing wrong with the explanation.

The full receipt
LineStatusChecked byDetail
1✓ Provedsympy 1.14.0simplify(lhs - rhs) reduced to 0
2✓ Provedsympy 1.14.0simplify(lhs - rhs) reduced to 0
3Reviewedreviewers: gpt-oss:20b, qwen3.6:27b-mlxa sentence; read, not computed
4✓ Provedsympy 1.14.0simplify(lhs - rhs) reduced to 0
answer, a second way✓ Checked independentlysympy 1.14.0 + mpmath 1.3.0the 400th partial sum agrees

Reviewers

  • gpt-oss:20b: pass
  • qwen3.6:27b-mlx: pass — The solution correctly identifies the first term and common ratio, applies the geometric series convergence test and sum formula correctly, and arrives at the correct result.
Every verdict on record (4)
  • qwen3.6:27b-mlx: pass 2026-09-27 — The solution correctly identifies the first term and common ratio, applies the geometric series convergence test and sum formula correctly, and arrives at the correct result.
  • gpt-oss:20b: pass 2026-09-27
  • qwen3.6:27b-mlx: pass 2026-09-27 — The solution correctly identifies the first term and common ratio, applies the geometric series convergence test and sum formula correctly, and arrives at the correct result.
  • gpt-oss:20b: pass 2026-09-27

Proved: SymPy reduced the difference between the two sides to zero. Checked independently: a separate method, named above, confirmed it. Checked numerically: the two sides agree at every sampled point, which is evidence, not proof. Reviewed: a model or a person read it; that is all a sentence can have. Solution by generator:structured/geometric_series, checked 2026-09-27 with SymPy 1.14.0.