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A student is studying the sequence

un=n2−200n+10000

Their working is shown below.

We have

u1=9801u2=9604u3=9409u4=9216u5=9025â‹®

This clearly shows that

u1>u2>u3>u4>u5>…

and so the sequence un is decreasing.

Prove that the student is wrong, and give the first pair of terms in the sequence where un+1≥un.


It is not enough to say that the difference between the terms is getting smaller.

Instead, try completing the square on un.


Completing the square will allow you to find the minimum value of the sequence (see ). After the minimum point, the sequence must start increasing.