4.

0 SEQUENCES AND SERIES

4.1 Sequence And Series

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 LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

a) define sequences and series

a) understand finite and infinite sequence, finite

and infinite series
c) understand the ∑ notation and write a series
using ∑ notation.

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Definition of sequence and series
A sequence is a function f whose domain
is the set of natural numbers.
The value f (1), f (2), f (3),...
are called the terms of the sequence.
Usually we denote f(1)=T1, f(2)=T2
A series is the sum of the terms of a sequence.
We write the sum of the first n terms
of a sequence as
Sn , where S n = T1 + T2 + ... + Tn
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 Examples of a sequence:

a) 1, 3, 5, 7, … b) 2, 4, 6, 8, …
In this case, In this case,
T1 = 1 = 2( 1 ) − 1 T1 = 2 = 2( 1 )
T2 = 3 = 2( 2 ) − 2 T2 = 4 = 2( 2 )
. T3 = 5 = 2( 3 ) − 1 T3 = 6 = 2( 3 )
• •
• •
• •

∴ Tn = 2n − 1 ∴ Tn = 2n
for n = 1,2,3,...
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Example 1

Find the first five terms of the sequence

defined by the following general term

a) Tn = 2 n 2 − 1

n
b) Tn =
n +1

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 Solution 1(a)
To find the first five terms, we substitute
n = 1, 2 , 3 , 4 , 5
in the formula for the nth term Tn = 2 n − 1 2

T1 = 2 ( 1 ) − 1 = 1
2

T2 = 2 ( 2 ) − 1 = 7
∴ 2

T3 = 2 ( 3 ) − 1 = 17
2

T4 = 2 ( 4 ) − 1 = 31
2

T5 = 2 ( 5 ) − 1 = 49
2

∴ The first five terms are 1, 7 , 17 , 31, 49

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“CAN WE PROCEED TO THE NEXT SLIDE?”

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Example 2

Find the nth term of a sequence whose

first several terms are given.

a) 4 , 7 , 10 , 13 , 16

b) − 2 , 4 , − 8 , 16 , − 32

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 Solution 2(a)

T1 = 4 = 3( 1) + 1
T2 = 7 = 3( 2 ) + 1
T3 = 10 = 3( 3 ) + 1
T4 = 13 = 3( 4 ) + 1
T5 = 16 = 3( 5 ) + 1
Tn = 3n + 1
for n = 1,2,3,4,5
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 Solution 2(b)

T1 = −2 = ( − 1) 2 = ( − 1) 21
1 1

= ( − 1) 4 = ( − 1) 2
2
T2 = 4 2 2

= ( − 1) 8 = ( − 1) 2 3
3 3
T3 = −8
T4 = 16 = ( − 1) 16 = ( − 1) 2 4
4 4

T5 = −32 = ( − 1) 32 = ( − 1) 2
5 5 5

Tn = ( − 1) 2
n n

for n = 1,2,3,4,5
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 The Partial Sums of a Sequence
(Series)

For the sequence, T1 , T2 , T3 , ..., Tn ,...

The partial sums are,
S1 = T1
S 2 = T1 + T2
S3 = T1 + T2 + T3
∴ S n = T1 + T2 + T3 + ... + Tn −1 + Tn Tn = S n − S n −1
and
S n −1 = T1 + T2 + T3 + ... + Tn −1
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 S1 is called the first partial sum.

S2 is called the second partial sum and so on.

S1 , S 2 , S 3 ,  , S n
are called sequences of partial sums.

Note:

i) T1 + T2 + T3 + T4 + T5 is a finite series

ii) T1 + T2 + T3 + T4 + T5 + ... is an infinite series

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Example 3

Find the T4 , T5 and S 4 + S5

for the sequence given by 1, 4 , 7 , ...

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 Solution 3
Consider for n = 1, 2 , 3 , ...
T1 = 1 = 3( 1) − 2 S 4 = T1 + T2 + T3 + T4
T2 = 4 = 3( 2 ) − 2 = 1 + 4 + 7 + 10
T3 = 7 = 3( 3) − 2 = 22
Tn = 3n − 2 S 5 = S 4 + T5
= 22 + 13
∴ T4 = 3( 4 ) − 2 = 10 = 35
T5 = 3( 5) − 2 = 13 ∴ S 4 + S 5 = 22 + 35
= 57
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 Sigma Notation (Σ)

Given a sequence T1 , T2 , T3 ,...

we can write the sum of the first terms n

using summation notation, or sigma notation;

∑T k = T1 + T2 + T3 + ... + Tn
k =1

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Example 4
5
a) ∑k 2
= 1 +2 +3 +4 +5
2 2 2 2 2

k =1
= 55
5
1 1 1 1 1 1
b)
∑ j = 1+ 2 + 3 + 4 + 5
j =1
17
=2
60

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Example 5
Write each sum of the following using sigma
notation.

a) 1 + 2 + 3 + + 7
2 2 2 2

2 4 6
b) + + + ...
3 5 7

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 }
Solution 5(a)

T1 = 1 2

T2 = 2 2

T3 = 3 2

•
{n } 2 7
n =1
•
•
T7 = 7 2

7
∴ 1 + 2 + 3 + + 7
2 2 2 2
= ∑n 2

n =1
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 }
Solution 5(b)
2 2 ( 1)
T1 = =
3 2 ( 1) + 1
4 2( 2 ) ∞
T2 = =  2n 
5 2( 2 ) + 1  
 2n + 1 n =1
6 2( 3)
T3 = =
• 7 2( 3) + 1
•
•
∞
2 4 6 2n
∴ + + + = ∑
3 5 7 n =1 2 n + 1
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 Properties of Sums
Let a1 , a 2 , a3 , ..., a k and b1 , b2 , b3 , ..., bk
be sequences. Then for every positive integer n
and any real number c.
n n n
1) ∑( a
k =1
k + bk ) = ∑ ak + ∑ bk
k =1 k =1
n n n

2) ∑( a
k =1
k − bk ) = ∑ ak − ∑ bk
k =1 k =1
n
 n 
3) ∑
k =1
cak = c ∑ ak 
 k =1 
n

4) ∑c
k =1
k = c + c + c + ... + c = nc
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 Exercises
1) Find the first four terms of the sequence.
a) Tn = n + 1

b) Tn =
( − 1)
n

n2
2) Find the nth term of sequence whose
first several terms are given.

a) 3 4 5 6
, , , , ...
4 5 6 7
b) 2 , − 2 , 2 , − 2 , 2 , ...
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 Answers
1. (a) 2, 3, 4, 5

(b) − 1, 1 ,− 1 , 1
4 9 16

1. (a) 3n − 2
n+2
(b)
n+3
(c) ( − 1) ( 2)
n +1

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