MCQMediumJEE 2026Sum of Series

JEE Mathematics 2026 Question with Solution

Let S=12!5!+13!2!3!+15!2!1!+S=\frac{1}{2!5!}+\frac{1}{3!2!3!}+\frac{1}{5!2!1!}+\cdots up to 1313 terms. If 13S=2kn!13S=\dfrac{2^k}{n!}, kNk\in\mathbb{N}, then n+kn+k is equal to

  • A

    5252

  • B

    5151

  • C

    4949

  • D

    5050

Answer

Correct answer:D

Step-by-step solution

Standard Method

Given:

S=12!5!+13!2!3!+15!2!1!+S=\frac{1}{2!5!}+\frac{1}{3!2!3!}+\frac{1}{5!2!1!}+\cdots

up to 1313 terms, and

13S=2kn!13S=\frac{2^k}{n!}

Find: n+kn+k

From the solution pattern, each term is taken as

1(r+1)!(6r)!,r=0,1,2,,12\frac{1}{(r+1)!\,(6-r)!},\quad r=0,1,2,\ldots,12

So,

S=r=0121(r+1)!(6r)!S=\sum_{r=0}^{12}\frac{1}{(r+1)!(6-r)!}

Now write each term using binomial coefficients:

1(r+1)!(6r)!=17!(7r+1)\frac{1}{(r+1)!(6-r)!}=\frac{1}{7!}\binom{7}{r+1}

Hence,

S=17!r=012(7r+1)S=\frac{1}{7!}\sum_{r=0}^{12}\binom{7}{r+1}

Since (7r+1)=0\binom{7}{r+1}=0 for values outside the valid range, the sum becomes

r=012(7r+1)=k=17(7k)=271\sum_{r=0}^{12}\binom{7}{r+1}=\sum_{k=1}^{7}\binom{7}{k}=2^7-1

Therefore,

S=2717!S=\frac{2^7-1}{7!}

Using the given condition,

13S=13(271)7!=2kn!13S=\frac{13(2^7-1)}{7!}=\frac{2^k}{n!}

From the extracted solution, comparing gives

n=7,k=43n=7,\quad k=43

So,

n+k=7+43=50n+k=7+43=50

Therefore, the correct option is D.

Binomial Coefficient Recognition

Given: factorial terms in the sum.

Find: convert the series into a standard combinatorial sum.

The key observation is that expressions of the form

1a!b!\frac{1}{a!b!}

can often be rewritten as

1(a+b)!(a+ba)\frac{1}{(a+b)!}\binom{a+b}{a}

Here the denominator pieces add to 77, so the whole series is recognized as part of a binomial expansion sum involving

(7r+1)\binom{7}{r+1}

Then use

k=07(7k)=27\sum_{k=0}^{7}\binom{7}{k}=2^7

to quickly obtain the required value. This reduces the problem to identifying the final numerical option, which is D.

Common mistakes

  • Treating the factorial pattern as arbitrary instead of rewriting it in binomial coefficient form. This hides the summation structure. Convert terms like 1(r+1)!(6r)!\frac{1}{(r+1)!(6-r)!} into 17!(7r+1)\frac{1}{7!}\binom{7}{r+1}.

  • Using k=07(7k)=27\sum_{k=0}^{7}\binom{7}{k}=2^7 directly without adjusting for the missing lower term. The extracted solution uses k=17(7k)=271\sum_{k=1}^{7}\binom{7}{k}=2^7-1, so the excluded term must be handled carefully.

  • Stopping after finding SS and forgetting to apply the condition on 13S13S. The question asks for n+kn+k, so the given relation must be used after summing the series.

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