The number of ways of selecting 3 numbers that are in G.P. from the set $\{1,2,3, \ldots, 100\}$ is

The number of ways of selecting 3 numbers that are in G.P. from the set $\{1,2,3, \ldots, 100\}$ is
  1. 18
  2. 52
  3. 14
  4. 53

Solution

Let three numbers in G.P. be $a$, $a r, a r^2$, such that $a r^2 \leq 100 \Rightarrow a \leq \frac{100}{r^2}$ and $a$ be a positive integer. So, $a=\left[\frac{100}{r^2}\right], 2 \leq r \leq 10$ $\begin{aligned} &=\left[\frac{100}{4}\right]+\left[\frac{100}{9}\right]+\left[\frac{100}{16}\right]+\left[\frac{100}{25}\right]+\left[\frac{100}{36}\right] \\ &+\left[\frac{100}{49}\right]+\left[\frac{100}{64}\right]+\left[\frac{100}{81}\right]+\left[\frac{100}{100}\right] \end{aligned}$ $=25+11+6+4+2+2+1+1+1=53 .$

Asked in: AP EAMCET 2024 (23 May Shift 1)

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