Back when I had to enter math answers into a computer, it would count me wrong for sight deviations on a right answer. If I had a random space bar or whatever it was wrong. I can't imagine a computer checking for an answer like this. What the fuck am I even looking at!?
It’s some sort of alternating harmonic series, it looks like Gregory’s series as a base multiplied by sub junk and obfuscated for an undergrad homework problem to me.
It looks like an alternating series, so It's likely from a physics class involving electrostatic or maybe control systems. It also could be from a later calculus class where you're first introduced to alternating series like Taylor or Leibniz.
As someone who has done this over the years, 2007 version was horrible (as you described), 2015 was normal, 2024 version as you see will literally give you the answer and tell you try again without even a point penalty.