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AMC 12/AHSME
1963 AMC 12/AHSME
9
Coefficient of a^-0.5
Coefficient of a^-0.5
Source: AHSME 1963 Problem 9
January 9, 2014
AMC
Problem Statement
In the expansion of
(
a
−
1
a
)
7
\left(a-\dfrac{1}{\sqrt{a}}\right)^7
(
a
−
a
1
)
7
the coefficient of
a
−
1
2
a^{-\dfrac{1}{2}}
a
−
2
1
is:
<
s
p
a
n
c
l
a
s
s
=
′
l
a
t
e
x
−
b
o
l
d
′
>
(
A
)
<
/
s
p
a
n
>
−
7
<
s
p
a
n
c
l
a
s
s
=
′
l
a
t
e
x
−
b
o
l
d
′
>
(
B
)
<
/
s
p
a
n
>
7
<
s
p
a
n
c
l
a
s
s
=
′
l
a
t
e
x
−
b
o
l
d
′
>
(
C
)
<
/
s
p
a
n
>
−
21
<
s
p
a
n
c
l
a
s
s
=
′
l
a
t
e
x
−
b
o
l
d
′
>
(
D
)
<
/
s
p
a
n
>
21
<
s
p
a
n
c
l
a
s
s
=
′
l
a
t
e
x
−
b
o
l
d
′
>
(
E
)
<
/
s
p
a
n
>
35
<span class='latex-bold'>(A)</span>\ -7 \qquad <span class='latex-bold'>(B)</span>\ 7 \qquad <span class='latex-bold'>(C)</span>\ -21 \qquad <span class='latex-bold'>(D)</span>\ 21 \qquad <span class='latex-bold'>(E)</span>\ 35
<
s
p
an
c
l
a
ss
=
′
l
a
t
e
x
−
b
o
l
d
′
>
(
A
)
<
/
s
p
an
>
−
7
<
s
p
an
c
l
a
ss
=
′
l
a
t
e
x
−
b
o
l
d
′
>
(
B
)
<
/
s
p
an
>
7
<
s
p
an
c
l
a
ss
=
′
l
a
t
e
x
−
b
o
l
d
′
>
(
C
)
<
/
s
p
an
>
−
21
<
s
p
an
c
l
a
ss
=
′
l
a
t
e
x
−
b
o
l
d
′
>
(
D
)
<
/
s
p
an
>
21
<
s
p
an
c
l
a
ss
=
′
l
a
t
e
x
−
b
o
l
d
′
>
(
E
)
<
/
s
p
an
>
35
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