Republic Central Colleges

Angeles City, Philippines

Geometric Sequences

Name: ____________________________________________________

Activity: Divide and Conquer!

Directions: Find the ratio of the second number to the first number.

1. 2, 8 6. −49, 7
1 1
2. −3, 9 7. 4 , 2
1
3. 1, 2 8. 𝑎2 , 𝑎3
4. −5, −10 9. 𝑘 − 1, 𝑘
5. 12, 4 10. 3𝑚, 3𝑚𝑟

Activity: Fold Me Up!

Do the activity with a partner. One of you will perform the paper folding while the other will do the recording in
the table.
1. Start with a big square from a piece of paper. Assume the area of the square is 64 square units.
2. Fold the four corners to the center of the square and find the area of the resulting square.
3. Repeat the process three times and record the result in the table.
Square 1 2 3 4
Area
Questions:
1. What is the area of the square formed after the first fold? Second fold? Third fold?
2. Is there a pattern in the areas obtained after 3 folds?
3. You have generated a sequence of areas. What are the first three terms of the sequence?
4. Is the sequence an arithmetic sequence? Why?
5. Using the pattern in the areas, what would be the 6th term of the sequence?

A geometric sequence or progression is a sequence where each term after the first is
obtained by multiplying the preceding term by a non-zero constant called the common ratio.

The common ratio, r, can be determined by dividing any term in the sequence by the term that precedes
1 16 1
it. Thus, in the geometric sequence 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, …, the common ration is 2 since 32 = 2.

Activity: Who Am I?!

Directions: State whether each of the following sequences is geometric or not.

1. 5, 20, 80, 320, … _________________ 4. 1, 0.6, 0.36, 0.216, … _________________

10 10 10 10
2. 7√2, 5√2, 3√2, √2, … _________________ 5. 3 , 6 , 9 , 15 , … _________________
3. 5, −10, 20, −40 _________________ 6. 4, 0, 0, 0, 0 … _________________

Activity: The Rule of a Geometric Sequence

Form a group of three members and answer the guide questions using the table.
Problem: What are the first 5 terms of a geometric sequence whose first term is 2 and whose common ratio is
3?
Other ways to write the terms
Term
In Factored Form In Exponential Form
𝑎1 = 2 2 2 𝑥 30
𝑎2 = 6 2𝑥3 2 𝑥 31
𝑎3 = 18 2𝑥3𝑥3 2 𝑥 32
𝑎4 = 54 2𝑥3𝑥3𝑥3 2 𝑥 33
𝑎5 = 162 2𝑥3𝑥3𝑥3𝑥3 2 𝑥 34
… … …
𝑎1 ?
Questions:
 Look at the two ways of writing the terms. What does 2 represents?
 For any consecutive terms, what does 3 represents?
 What is the relationship between the exponent of 3 and the position of the term?
 If the position of the term is n, what must be the exponent of 3?
 What is 𝑎𝑛 for the sequence?
 In general, if the first term of a geometric sequence is 𝑎1 and the common ratio r, what is the nth term of
the sequence?
CONSIDER THE EXAMPLE:
Given the first term 𝑎1 and the common ratio r of a geometric sequence, the nth term of a geometric sequence
is 𝒂𝒏 = 𝒂𝟏 𝒓𝒏−𝟏 .

Example: What is the 10th term of the geometric sequence 8, 4, 2, 1, … ?

1 1 10−1 1 9 1 1
Solution: Since 𝑟 = 2 , 𝑎10 = 8 (2) = 8 (2) = 8 (512) = 64.

Activity: Missing You

Directions: Find the common ratio and the missing terms in each geometric sequence.

1. 3, 12, 48, ___, ___ 𝑟 =_____ 6. -2, ___, ___, -16, -32, -64 𝑟 =_____
2. ___, ___, 32, 64, 128, … 𝑟 =_____ 7. 256, ___, ___, -32, 16, … 𝑟 =_____
3. 120, 60, 30, ___, ___, ___ 𝑟 =_____ 1
8. 27, 9, ___, ___, 3 𝑟 =_____
4. 5, ___, 20, 40, ___, ___ 𝑟 =_____ 1
9. 4
, ___, ___, ___, 64, 256 𝑟 =_____
5. ___, 4, 12, 36, ___, ___ 𝑟 =_____
10. 5𝑥 2 , ___, ___, 5𝑥 6 , 5𝑥 8 , ___ 𝑟 =_____

GEOMETRIC MEANS AND MEAN PROPORTIONAL

Inserting a certain number of terms between two given terms of a geometric sequence is an
interesting activity in studying geometric consequences and these are called geometric means.

Example: Insert 3 geometric means between 5 and 3125.

Solution:
Let 𝑎1 = 5 and 𝑎5 = 3125. We will insert 𝑎2 , 𝑎3 and 𝑎4 .
Since 𝑎5 = 𝑎1 𝑟 4 , then 3125 = 5𝑟 4 .
Solving for the value of 𝑟, we get 625 = 𝑟 4 or 𝑟 = ±5.
We obtained two values of 𝑟, so we have two geometric sequences.
If 𝑟 = 5, the geometric means are
𝑎2 = 5(5)1 = 25 𝑎3 = 5(5)2 = 125 𝑎2 = 5(5)3 = 625
Thus, the sequence is 5, 25, 125, 625, 3125 and for 𝑟 = −5, we have: 5, -25, 125, -625, 3125

When one geometric mean is found between two numbers, it is called as mean proportional of
𝑎 𝑏
two numbers. If 𝑎 and 𝑐 are two numbers and 𝑏 is their mean proportional, then 𝑏 = 𝑐 . So 𝑏 2 =
𝑎𝑐 and 𝑏 = ±√𝑎𝑐.

Example:
Find the mean proportional of −8 and −2.
Solution:
−8 𝑏
=
𝑏 −2
𝑏 2 = (−8)(−2) = 16
𝑏 = ±√16 = ±4
So the mean proportional is ±4.

Activity: Do You Want SUM?

Directions: Consider the geometric sequence 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96, … What is the sum of the first 5
terms of the sequence?

There is another method to get the sum of the first 5 terms.

Let 𝑆5 = 3 + 6 + 12 + 24 + 48.

Multiplying both sides by the common ratio 2, we get

2𝑆5 = 3 + 6 + 12 + 24 + 48 + 96

Subtracting 2𝑆5 from 𝑆5 , we have

𝑆5 = 3 + 6 + 12 + 24 + 48
−(2𝑆5 = 6 + 12 + 24 + 48 + 96)
−𝑆5 = 3 − 96
𝑺𝟓 = 𝟗𝟑

Try the method for the sequence 81, 27, 9, 3, 1, … and find the sum of the first 4 terms
From the activity, we can derive the formula for the sum of the n terms of a Finite Geometric Sequence.
Consider the sum of the first n terms of a geometric sequence:
𝑆𝑛 = 𝑎1 + 𝑎1 𝑟 + 𝑎1 𝑟 2 + ⋯ 𝑎1 𝑟 𝑛−1 Equation 1

Multiplying both sides of the equation 1 by the common ratio r we get

𝑟𝑆𝑛 = 𝑎1 𝑟 + 𝑎1 𝑟 2 + 𝑎1 𝑟 3 + ⋯ 𝑎1 𝑟 𝑛−1 + 𝑎1 𝑟 𝑛 Equation 2

Subtracting Equation 1 with Equation 2, we get

𝑆𝑛 = 𝑎1 + 𝑎1 𝑟 + 𝑎1 𝑟 2 + ⋯ 𝑎1 𝑟 𝑛−1 Equation 1
−(𝑟𝑆𝑛 = 𝑎1 𝑟 + 𝑎1 𝑟 2 + 𝑎1 𝑟 3 + ⋯ 𝑎1 𝑟 𝑛−1 + 𝑎1 𝑟 𝑛 ) Equation 2
𝑺𝒏 − 𝒓𝑺𝒏 = 𝒂𝟏 − 𝒂𝟏 𝒓𝒏

Factoring the both sides of the resulting equation, we get:

𝑺𝒏 (𝟏 − 𝒓) = 𝒂𝟏 (𝟏 − 𝒓𝒏 )

Dividing both sides by 1 − 𝑟, where 1 − 𝑟 ≠ 0, we get:

𝒂𝟏 (𝟏 − 𝒓𝒏 )
𝑺𝒏 = ,𝒓 ≠ 𝟏
(𝟏 − 𝒓)

Note that since 𝑎1 − 𝑎1 𝑟 𝑛−1 , if we multiply both sides by r we get

𝒂𝒏 (𝒓) = 𝒂𝟏 𝒓𝒏−𝟏 (𝒓) 𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏 𝒓 = 𝒂𝟏 𝒓𝒏

𝑎1 (1−𝑟 𝑛 ) 𝑎1 −𝑎1 𝑟 𝑛
Since, 𝑆𝑛 = (1−𝑟)
= (1−𝑟)
,

Then replacing 𝑎1 𝑟 𝑛 by 𝑎𝑛 𝑟, we have

𝒂𝟏 − 𝒂𝒏 𝒓
𝑺𝒏 = ,𝒓 ≠ 𝟏
(𝟏 − 𝒓)

What if 𝑟 = 1?
If 𝑟 = 1, then the formula above iis not applicable. Instead,
𝑆𝑛 = 𝑎1 + 𝑎1 (1) + 𝑎1 (1)2 + ⋯ 𝑎1 (1)𝑛−1 = 𝑎1 + 𝑎1 + 𝑎1 +, … + 𝑎1 = 𝒏𝒂𝟏

Example: What is the sum of the first 10 terms of 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + ⋯?

Solution: 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 10(2) = 𝟐𝟎

What if 𝑟 = −1?
If 𝑟 = −1 and 𝒏 is even, then:
𝑆𝑛 = 𝑎1 + 𝑎1 (−1) + 𝑎1 (−1)2 + ⋯ 𝑎1 (−1)𝑛−1
= 𝑎1 − 𝑎1 + 𝑎1 − 𝑎1 + ⋯ + 𝑎1 − 𝑎1
= (𝑎1 − 𝑎1 ) + (𝑎1 − 𝑎1 ) + ⋯ + (𝑎1 − 𝑎1 )
=𝟎
However, 𝑟 = −1 and 𝒏 is odd, then:
𝑆𝑛 = 𝑎1 + 𝑎1 (−1) + 𝑎1 (−1)2 + ⋯ 𝑎1 (−1)𝑛−1
= 𝑎1 − 𝑎1 + 𝑎1 − 𝑎1 + ⋯ + 𝑎1 − 𝑎1 + 𝑎1
= (𝑎1 − 𝑎1 ) + (𝑎1 − 𝑎1 ) + ⋯ + (𝑎1 − 𝑎1 ) + 𝑎1
= 𝒂𝟏
To summarize,
𝒂𝟏 (𝟏−𝒓𝒏 ) 𝒂𝟏 −𝒂𝒏 𝒓
If 𝑟 ≠ 1 --- 𝑺𝒏 = (𝟏−𝒓)
𝒐𝒓 (𝟏−𝒓)

If 𝑟 = 1 --- 𝑺𝒏 = 𝒏𝒂𝟏

In particular, if 𝑟 = −1, the sum 𝑆𝑛 simplifies to

𝑺𝒏 = 𝟎 𝒊𝒇 𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏; 𝒂𝟏 𝒊𝒇 𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒅𝒅

CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING EXAMPLES:

1. What is the sum of the first 10 terms of 2. What is the sum of the first 11 terms of
2, −2, 2, −2, …? 2, −2, 2, −2, …?
Solution: Since 𝑟 = −1 and n is even, then Solution: Since 𝑟 = −1 and n is odd, then
the sum is 0. the sum is 2.

3. What is the sum of the first 5 terms of the sequence 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96, …?
𝑎1 (1−𝑟 𝑛 ) 3(1−25 ) 3(−31)
Solution: Since 𝑎1 = 3, 𝑟 = 2 and 𝑛 = 5, then the sum is 𝑆5 = (1−𝑟)
= (1−2)
= (−1) = 𝟗𝟔
𝑎1 −𝑎𝑛 𝑟 3−48(2) 3−96 −93
Alternative Formula: Using (1−𝑟)
, 𝑎5 = 48, 𝑎1 = 3, 𝑟 = 2; 𝑆5 = (1−2) = −1
= −1 = 𝟗𝟔
Under certain conditions , we can find the sum of all the terms of an infinite geometric sequence. To define this
sum, let us consider the geometric sequence: 𝑎, 𝑎𝑟, 𝑎𝑟 2 , 𝑎𝑟 3 , … , 𝑎𝑟 𝑛−1 , …

The partial sum, 𝑆1 , of the sequence is 𝑆1 = 𝑎.

The second partial sum, 𝑆2 , of the sequence is 𝑆2 = 𝑎 + 𝑎𝑟.
The third partial sum, 𝑆3 , of the sequence is 𝑆2 = 𝑎 + 𝑎𝑟 + 𝑎𝑟 2 .
The nth partial sum, 𝑆𝑛 , of the sequence is 𝑆2 = 𝑎 + 𝑎𝑟 + 𝑎𝑟 2 +, … + 𝑎𝑟 𝑛−1 .

If the nth partial sum, 𝑆𝑛 , approaches some number 𝑆 as 𝑛 approaches infinity, then 𝑆 is called the Sum of the
Infinite Geometric Sequence. To develop a certain formula for finding the sum of the infinite geometric
𝑎−𝑎𝑟 𝑛
sequence, we consider the formula: 𝑆𝑛= 𝑎−𝑟
𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 (𝑟 ≠ 1)

If |𝑟| < 1 and 𝑎 is constant, then the term 𝑎𝑟 𝑛 in the above formula approaches 0 as 𝑛 becomes very large.
1 1 1 1 2 1 1 3 1
Consider the example: 𝑎 (4) = 4 , 𝑎 (4) = 16 , 𝑎 (4) = 64 and so on. When 𝑛 is very large the value of 𝑎𝑟 𝑛 is
negligible, and the term 𝑎𝑟 𝑛 in the above formula can be ignored. In that manner:

If 𝑎 is the first term and 𝑟 is the common ratio of an infinite geometric sequence, and if |𝑟| < 1, then the
𝑎
sum of terms of the sequence is given by the formula sum to infinity or 𝑆∞= 1−𝑟.

CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING EXAMPLES:

1. Find the sum of the terms of the infinite geometric sequence 125, 25, 5, …
1 1 1
Solution: In this geometric sequence, 𝑎 = 125, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟 = 5. Because |𝑟| = |5| = 5 < 1, we can find the
𝑎
sum by substituting the values to the formula 𝑆∞= 1−𝑟. Simplifying:
𝑎 125 125 5 𝟔𝟐𝟓
𝑆∞= = = = (125) =
1−𝑟 1− 1 4 4 𝟒
5 5
1
2. Find the sum of the terms of the infinite geometric sequence 64, −4, , …
4
1 1 1
Solution: In this geometric sequence, 𝑎 = 64, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟 = − . Because |𝑟| = |− | = < 1, we can find
16 16 16
𝑎
the sum by substituting the values to the formula 𝑆∞= 1−𝑟. Simplifying:
64 64 64 16 𝟏𝟎𝟐𝟒
𝑆∞= = = = (64) =
1 1 17 17 𝟏𝟕
1 − (− 16) 1 + 16 16

3. Change 0. 8̅ to a common fraction.

Solution: The decimal 0. 8̅ can be written as the sum of an infinite geometric sequence.
8 8 8
0. 8̅ = 0.88888 … = + + +⋯
10 100 1000
8 1 1 1
𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎 = 10 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟 = 10. Because |𝑟| = |10| = 10 < 1, we can find the sum as follows:
8 8
10 10 8
𝑆∞= = = = 𝟎. 𝟖𝟖𝟖 …
1 9 9
1−( )
10 10
Activity: Do You Want SUM?
Directions: Determine whether each sequence is arithmetic, geometric or neither. If the sequence is arithmetic,
give the common difference; if geometric, give the common ratio.

1. 6, 18, 54, 162, … ________________________ _________

2. 4, 10, 16, 22, … ________________________ _________
3. 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, … ________________________ _________
4. 625, 125, 25, 5, … ________________________ _________
1 1 1 1
5. 2 , 4 , 6 , 8 , … ________________________ _________
6. 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, … ________________________ _________
7. -1296, 216, -36, 6, … ________________________ _________
8. 8.2, 8, 7.8, … ________________________ _________
1 1 1 1
9. − 42 , − 35 , − 28 , − 21 , … ________________________ _________
10. 11, 2, -7, -16, … ________________________ _________

Activity: 1, 2, 3, 4! Hi-5!
Directions: Find the first five terms in each geometric sequence.
1
1. 𝑎1 = 10, 𝑟 = 2 ______ ______ ______ ______ ______
1
2. 𝑎1 = −4,𝑟 = −2 ______ ______ ______ ______ ______
3. 𝑎1 = 5, 𝑟 = −5 ______ ______ ______ ______ ______
 𝑎2 2𝑏
4. 𝑎1 = 𝑏
,𝑟 = 𝑎
______ ______ ______ ______ ______
𝑏
5. 𝑎1 = 𝑐, 𝑟 = 𝑐
______ ______ ______ ______ ______

Activity: WANTed! I SUMhow MISS it!

Directions: Use the nth term of the geometric sequence, 𝑎𝑛 = 𝑎1 𝑟 𝑛−1 , to answer the following problems.
3 3
1. What is the fifth term of the geometric sequence 20 , 2 , 15, …?
2. Find the 6th term of the geometric sequence where the second term is 6 and the common ratio is 2.
3. Find k so that the terms 𝑘 − 3, 𝑘 + 1 𝑎𝑛𝑑 4𝑘 − 2 form a geometric sequence.
4. In the geometric sequence 6, 12, 24, 48, …, which term is 768?
3
5. The second term of a geometric sequence is 4 and its 4th term is 3. What is the first term?
1
6. If 𝑎1 = 25 and 𝑟 = − 5. Find the 6th term of the geometric sequence.
7. Find the 10th term and 𝑆10 for the sequence √2, 2, 2√2,…
8. Find the 8th term and 𝑆8 for the sequence √3, 3, 3√3,…
1 1
9. If 𝑎5 = and 𝑎8 = . Find the common ratio of the geometric sequence.
8 64
10. Find the first term of the geometric sequence with a common ratio of -3 and an eight term of -81.

Activity: With YOU in the MIDDLE!

A. Directions: Find the indicated number of geometric means between each pair of numbers.

1. 16 and 81 (3)
2. 256 and1 (3)
3. -32 and 4 (2)
1 64
4. and (1)
3 3
5. 2𝑥𝑦 and 16𝑥𝑦 4 (2)

B. The geometric mean between the first two terms in a geometric sequence is 32. If the third term is 4, find
the 1st term of the sequence.
1
C. Insert a geometric mean between 𝑘 and .
𝑘

D. If 2 and 3 are two geometric means between 𝑚 and 𝑛, find the values of 𝑚 and 𝑛.

E. Three positive numbers form a geometric sequence. If the geometric mean of the first two numbers is 6 and
the geometric mean of the last two numbers is 24, find the three numbers and their common ratio.

Activity: Now I’m SUMbody that You must Know!

A. Directions: For each given geometric sequence, find the sum of the first:

1. 5 terms of 4, 12, 36, 108, …

2. 6 terms of 3, −6, 12, −24, …
3. 6 terms of −3, 3, −3, 3, …
4. 7 terms of −3, 3, −3, 3, …
3 3 3 3
5. 8 terms of 4 , 4 , 4 , 4 , …

B. Find the sum to infinity of each geometric sequence, if it exists.

1. 64, 16, 4, 1,…

1 1 1 1
2. 3 , 9 , 27 , 81 , …
1 1
3. -4, -1, - ,− ,…
4 16
2 1
4. 24,4, 3 , 9 , …
5. 1, √2, 2, 2√2, …

C. Find the sum of the terms of a geometric sequence where the first term is 4, the last term is 324, and the
common ratio is 3.

D. The sum to infinity of a geometric sequence is twice the first term. What is the common ratio?

Prepared By:
Mr. Mark Lourenze M. Cunanan
Mathematics in the Modern World