If $\left(2+\frac{x}{3}\right)^{55}$ is expanded in the ascending powers of $x$ and the coefficients of…

If $\left(2+\frac{x}{3}\right)^{55}$ is expanded in the ascending powers of $x$ and the coefficients of powers of $x$ in two consecutive terms of the expansion are equal, then these terms are:
  1. $7^{\text {th }}$ and $8^{\text {th }}$
  2. $8^{\text {th }}$ and $9^{\text {th }}$
  3. $28^{\text {th }}$ and $29^{\text {th }}$
  4. $27^{\text {th }}$ and $28^{\text {th }}$

Solution

Let $r^{\text {th }}$ and $(r+1)^{\text {th }}$ term has equal coefficient $ \begin{aligned} &\left(2+\frac{x}{3}\right)^{55}=2^{55}\left(1+\frac{x}{6}\right)^{55} \\ &r^{\text {th }} \text { term }=2^{5555} C_r\left(\frac{x}{6}\right)^r \end{aligned} $ Coefficient of $x^r$ is $2^{55}{ }^{55} C_r \frac{1}{6^r}$ $ (r+1)^{\text {th }} \text { term }=2^{5555} C_{r+1}\left(\frac{x}{6}\right)^{r+1} $ Coefficient of $x^{r+1}$ is $2^{55}{ }^{55} C_{r+1} \cdot \frac{1}{6^{r+1}}$ Both coefficients are equal $ 2^{5555} C_r \frac{1}{6^r}=2^{5555} C_{r+1} \frac{1}{6^{r+1}} $ $ \begin{aligned} &\frac{1}{|r| 55-r}=\frac{1}{\lfloor r+1 \mid 54-r} \cdot \frac{1}{6} \\ &6(r+1)=55-r \\ &6 r+6=55-r \\ &7 r=49 \\ &r=7 \\ &(r+1)=8 \end{aligned} $ Coefficient of $7^{\text {th }}$ and $8^{\text {th }}$ terms are equal

Asked in: JEE Main 2014 (12 Apr Online)

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