TOPIC

Sequences and Series 

 OBJECTIVES
Define sequences and identify the different kinds of
sequences.
Find the nth term or the general term of a sequence for
which some initial terms are given.
Find the common difference of an arithmetic sequence.
Find the common ratio of a geometric sequence.
Find arithmetic means, harmonic means and geometric
means.
Find the sum of a finite arithmetic sequence, harmonic
sequence and geometric sequence.
Find the sum of an infinite geometric sequence.
 
Definition:
Definition:
SEQUENCE
SEQUENCE
AAsequence
sequence or or progression
progression isisaalistlist of
ofobjects,
objects, events
eventsor or
numbers
numbers in inaadefinite
definiteorder
order of
of occurrence.
occurrence. Each Each member
member
of
ofaasequence
sequenceisiscalled calledaa term.
term. AA sequence
sequence isis said
said to
tobe
be
finite
finite ifif ititcontains
containsfinite
finitenumber
numberof ofterms.
terms.An An infinite
infinite
sequence
sequenceisisone onehaving
havinginfinite
infinitenumber
numberof of terms,
terms,thus,
thus,the
the
last
lastterm
termisis not notindicated.
indicated.TheThenotation
notation,, aann,,represents
representsthethe
nth
nthterm
term or or the
thegeneral
generalterm
term ofof the
the sequence.
sequence.

Example: The following represent a sequence:

a. 2, 4, 6, 8
b. 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21,…
c. 1, 3, 9, 27, …
 Definition
Definition
ARITHMETIC
ARITHMETICSEQUENCE SEQUENCE
An
An arithmetic
arithmetic sequence
sequence isisaa sequence
sequencein inwhich
whichthe
the
difference
difference between
betweentwo two successive
successiveterms
terms isis constant.
constant.This
This
difference
difference ,, d,
d, isiscalled
calledthe
the common
common difference.
difference.
For any arithmetic sequence in which an is the general term, a1
is the first term, and n is a positive integer.
an  a1   n  1 d an 1  an  d or d  an 1  an
The first and last terms of the sequence are called arithmetic
extremes.
The terms in between are called arithmetic means.

The arithmetic mean between an -1 and an is defined by  an 1  an 

2
The arithmetic mean of n terms is  an  an1  ...  a2  a1
n
Example
1. Given the sequence 1, -4, -9, …, list the next three terms and write a formula
for the nth term .
ans. -14, -19,
-24 a  5n  6
n

2. Insert three arithmetic means between 6 and -6.

ans. 3, 0, -3

3. In the arithmetic sequence –9, -2, 5, …, which term is 131?

ans. n = 21

4.The last term of an arithmetic sequence is 207, the common difference is 3,

and the number of terms is 14. What is the first term of the sequence?
ans. 168
5.The fifth term of an arithmetic sequence is 3 and the fifteenth term is 8.
What is the general term of the sequence?
1 1
ans. an  n 
2 2
Definition
Definition
Sum
Sumof ofthe
theFirst
First nnTerms
Termsof of an
anArithmetic
ArithmeticSequence
Sequence
The
Thesum
sum of
of the
the first
first nnterms
terms of
of an
an arithmetic
arithmeticsequence
sequenceisis given
given
by:
by:
n n
Sn   a1  an  or Sn   2a1   n  1 d
2 2
EXAMPLE
1.Find the sum of the positive even integers up to and
including 350. ans. 30, 800

2. For an arithmetic series with a1  11, S n  32, and fourth term is

-5, find d and n. ans. d = 2; n = 4

3. The balcony of a theater has 12 rows of seats. The last row

contains 8 seats, and each of the other rows contains one
more seat than the row behind it. How many seats are there in
the balcony? ans. 162

4. The sum of the progression 5, 8, 11, 14, … is 1025. How

many terms are there? ans. 25
Definition:
Definition:
HARMONIC
HARMONICSEQUENCE SEQUENCE
Harmonic
Harmonic sequence
sequence isis aa sequence
sequence formed
formed by by the
the reciprocals
reciprocals ofof
the
the terms
terms of of an
an arithmetic
arithmetic sequence.
sequence. The
The terms
terms between
between any
any two
two
terms
terms of of aa harmonic
harmonic sequence
sequence areare called
called harmonic
harmonic means.
means. To To
find
find the
the nthnth term
term ofof aa harmonic
harmonic sequence
sequence ,, firstfirst write
write the
the
corresponding
corresponding arithmetic
arithmetic sequence.
sequence. Second,
Second, determine
determine the
the nth
nth
term
term of
of the
thearithmetic
arithmeticsequence.
sequence. Lastly,
Lastly, take
takeits
its reciprocal.
reciprocal.

Example
1 1 1 1
1.What is the ninth term of the harmonic progression ' , ,... ? ans.
6 10 14 38
1 1 1
,
2. What is the value of k so that the terms 3k  1 1  2k and 2k  5
form a harmonic sequence?
8
ans. 9
Definition:
Definition:
GEOMETRIC
GEOMETRIC SEQUENCE
SEQUENCE
AA geometric
geometric sequence
sequence isis aa sequence
sequence in
in which
which the
the ratio
ratio
ofof any
any two
two consecutive
consecutive terms
terms isis constant.
constant. This
This constant
constant
isiscalled
calledthe
the common
commonratio,
ratio,denoted
denotedbyby r.r.

The
Thenth
nthterm
termof
of aageometric
geometricsequence
sequenceisis given
givenby
by
n 1 an1
an  a1r an1  anr or r
an
AA single
single geometric
geometric mean
mean between
between two
two numbers
numbers isis called
called
the
the geometric
geometricmean,
mean,oror the
the mean
meanproportional
proportional given
givenby by
an 1an
EXAMPLE

1. The third term of a geometric sequence is 32 and the

fifth term is 128. Find the first term and the common
ratio. ans. a1  8, r = 2 or -2

2.What is the mean proportional between 15 and 60?

ans. 30

3. The fourth term of a geometric sequence is –10 and the

sixth term is -40. What is the ninth term of the
sequence? ans. -320

4. KT Airlines’ passenger load has been increasing by

12 % annually. In 2000 they carried 20,500
passengers. How many passengers should they expect
to carry in 2010?
ans. 63,670
 Definition:
Definition:
Sum
Sumof of the
theFirst
First nth nthterms
termsofof aaFinite
FiniteGeometric
GeometricSequence
Sequence
The
The sum
sum ofof the
the first
first nthnth terms
terms of
of aa finite
finite geometric
geometric sequence
sequence isis
a1 1  r n 
given
givenby
by a1  ran
Sn  or Sn  r 1
1 r 1 r

EXAMPLE

1. If S8  2040 and the common ratio is 2, what is S6 ?

ans. 504

2. A piece of paper is 0.05 in thick. Each time the paper is

folded into half, the thickness is doubled. If the paper was folded
12 times, how thick in feet the folded paper will be?
ans. 17.06
Definition
Definition::
Infinite
InfiniteGeometric
GeometricSeries
Series
The
Thesum
sum of
ofaaconvergent
convergent infinite
infinitegeometric
geometricseries
seriesisisgiven
givenby
by
a1
S for r 1
1 r

EXAMPLE

1. Find the sum of the infinite geometric progression 36, 24, 16, …
ans. 108
3
2. A rubber ball rebounds of its height. If it is initially 30 ft high,
5
what total vertical distance does it travel before coming to rest?
ans. 75
OTHER EXAMPLE

You visit the Grand Canyon and drop a penny off the edge of a cliff. 
The distance the penny will fall is 16 feet the first second, 48 feet the
next second, 80 feet the third second, and so on in an arithmetic
sequence.  What is the total distance the object will fall in 6 seconds?
 
Solution
Arithmetic sequence:   16, 48, 80, ...
an  a1   n  1 d
The 6th term is 176. a6  16   6  1 32  176

Now, we are ready to find the sum:

n a1  an 
sn 
2
6 16  176 
s6   576
2