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MAT Sequences Practice

1. Find the sum of the first n terms b. 1+3+5+ …+99

for the following sequences: c. 2+ 4+6+ …+100
2
a. 1, 2, 4, 8, ... 6. Given a sequence x n=n −2 n,
1 1 1 determine the increase of the n th
b. 1, , , , ...
2 4 8 term from the previous term. For
1 1 1 what value of n will the increase
c. 1 ,− , ,− , …
2 4 8 from the previous term by 99?
d. 1 ,−1 , 1,−1 , … 7. [Source: SMC] Find the sum to
2. Find the sum of the first 2 n terms infinity of
of the following sequences (note
1 1 2 3 5 8 13
that there are two sequences + + + + + + +…
1 2 4 8 16 32 64
interleaved!):
(Hint: Since the numerators have
a.
the property that they’re the sum
1 of the previous two numerators,
9 , 9 , 3 , 27 ,1 , 81 , ,243 , …
3 perhaps we could replace all but
b. the first few fractions each with a
1 ,1 , 2 ,3 , 4 , 9 , 8 ,27 ,16 , 81 , … pair of fractions added together?)
c. 8. [Source: MAT] Given that
1 1 1 1
1 ,1 , , 2, , 3 , , 4 , , 5 , … 1 1 1 π2
2 4 8 16 1+ + + +…= and that
22 32 4 2 6
3. Prove that the sum of the first n
1 1 1 1 π2
natural numbers is n( n+ 1). 1+ + + + …= ,
2 32 5 2 72 8
4. Determine the sum to infinity to determine the value of the infinite
the following sequences: sum
1 1 1 1 1 1 1
a. 2 ,−1 , ,− , … 1− + − + − +…
2 4 22 32 4 2 52 6 2
b.
1 1 1 1 1 1
3 , 2 ,1 , 1, , , , , , , …
3 2 9 4 27 8
5. Determine the sum of the
following arithmetic sequences:
a. 1+2+3+…+ 200

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 ANSWERS

1.
a. Sn=2n−1
1−n
b. Sn=2−2
2 2
c. Sn= − (−2 )−n
3 3
n−1
d. Sn= (−1 )
2.
27 −n 1 n+2
a. 9− (3 )+ 3
2 2
n−1 n−1
b. 2 +3
1−n 1
c. 2 + n ( n+1 )
2
3. Just pick your favourite proof! You could observe that the first and last term add up to n+1,
n 1
as does the next pair inwards, and so on. There’s of these pairs, so the total is n ( n+1 ).
2 2
n+1
Alternatively, observe that the median of the numbers is by observation, and that the
2
mean is the equal to the median due to symmetry. There’s n numbers, so the total is
1
n ( n+1 ).
2
4.
4
a.
3
17
b.
2
5. Determine the sum of the following arithmetic sequences:
1
n( n+ 1), which gives 20100.
a. 1+2+3+…+ 200: The sum of 1 to n is
2
b. 1+3+5+ …+99: a=1 and d=2 and n=50 (Be very careful when working out the
number of terms. Notice that if we added 1 to all the numbers then divided by 2,
we’d have the numbers 1 to 50, and thus it then becomes clear there are 50
50
numbers). Thus S50 = ( 2+ 49× 2 )=2500
2
50
c. 2+ 4+6+ …+100: a=2, d=2, n=50. So S50 = ( 4+ 49× 2 )=2550
2

2 2
6. x n−x n−1=n +2 n−( n−1 ) −2(n−1)¿ 2 n+1Then if 2 n+1=99, n=49 .
1 1 2 3 5 8 13 1 1 1 1 2 2 3
7.
1 2 4 8 16 32 64 2 4 4( )( )( )( )
S∞ = + + + + + + +…=1+ + + + + +
8 8
+
16 16
+…

1 1 2 3 5 1 1 2 3 1 1 1
¿ 1+( + + + + +… ) +( + + + )¿ 1+ S + S S =1, so S =4 . ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
2 4 8 16 32 4 8 16 32 2 4 4

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 1 1 1 π2 π2 π2
8. + + + …= − =
22 4 2 62 6 8 24
1 1 1 1 π 2 π2 π 2
Then 1− + − + +…= − =
22 32 4 2 52 8 24 12

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