LEARNING

MODULE
MATHEMATICS Gr.10│Q1 W1- W2

ARITHMETIC SEQUENCE
AND SERIES
 MODULE IN MATHEMATICS 10

FIRST QUARTER
WEEK 1& 2

LESSON: ARITHMETIC SEQUENCE AND SERIES

Explore

In this section, you will learn about arithmetic sequence and answers some
question/activities.

Activity 1
Suppose each student in a group has a phone conversation with every other member of the group.
What is the minimum number of calls inquired?

The calls can be represented by drawing diagrams.

Number of Students in a 1 2 3 4 5
group
• • • • • •

Number of calls • • •

• • • • • •

1. How many calls are needed to have a phone conversation?

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2. How many calls are needed for each student to talk to everyone else in a group of 3
students? 4 students? 5 students?
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3. Do you see a pattern?
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4. How many calls are needed for 6 students? 7 students? nstudents?
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Activity 2
The first square numbers are shown below

• • • • • • • • •
••• • • • • • • • • •
• •• ••• • • • • • • • • •
•• ••• • • • • • • • • •
• • • • •

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

1. What is the sum of the first

a. 3 square numbers?
b. 5 square numbers?

2. Why do we call 1, 4, 9, 16 and 25 square numbers?

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3. Can you tell what the next number is after 25?

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End of Explore

You gave your initial answers to the questions given above.

Firm Up

In this section, your goal is to learn and understand the key concepts of arithmetic
sequence. You will also apply the concepts in solving real-life problem.

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Important concept/ideas:
 Sequence is a function whose domain is the set of positive integers. It also means an
ordered list of numbers. Each number in a sequence is called a term.
 A sequence is infinite if its domain is the set of positive integers without a last term
{1,2,3,4,5,…}. The three dots show that the sequence goes on and on indefinitely.
 A sequence is finite if its domain is the set of positive integers less than or equal to n
{1,2,3,4,5,..,n}.
 The expression (−1)𝑛 in the general term cause the signs of the terms to alternate
between positive and negative depending on whether n is even or odd.

In the sequence 0,1,3,6,10,15,… we can denote the terms as follows:

𝑎1 = 0 𝑎3 = 3 𝑎5 = 10
𝑎2 = 1 𝑎4 = 6 𝑎6 = 15

𝑛
The general or 𝑛𝑡ℎ term denoted by 𝑎𝑛 = (n-1).
2

Example 1: Find the first 4 terms and the 20th term of the sequence whose general term is given
(−1)𝑛
by 𝑎𝑛 = .
2𝑛−1
Solution:
(−1)1 (−1)4 1
𝑎1 = = -1 𝑎4 = =
2(1)−1 2(4)−1 7
(−1)2 1 (−1)20 1
𝑎2 = = 𝑎20 = =
2(2)−1 3 2(20)−1 39
(−1)3 −1
𝑎3 = =
2(3)−1 5
When the first few terms of a sequence are given, we can try to give the general term by looking
for a pattern.
Example 2: For each sequence, make a guess at the general term.
a. 1,8,27,64,1,25,…
11 1 1
b. 1,2,3 , 4 , 5,…
c. -5,10,-15,20,-25,….
Solutions:
a. These are cubes of numbers, so the general term is 𝑎𝑛 = 𝑛3 .
1
b. The denominators increase consecutively, so the general term is 𝑎𝑛 = 𝑛 .
c. These are multiples of 5 whose signs alternate. The general term is
𝑎𝑛 = (−1)𝑛 5n.

Think about this: In example 2c, what is the effect of the factor (−1)𝑛 in the general term on the
terms of the sequence?
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Activity 3
1. Find the first 5 terms of the sequence whose general term is 𝑎𝑛 = (𝑛 − 3)𝑛 . Write your
answer in the answer box.
Answer box

Activity 4. Patterns in Numbers and Shape

Prepare a notebook and write the process questions. You will watch a video about patterns, read
first the process question before watching. After watching a video, answer the process questions
and write it in the answer box. Click the link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuAYp6O8GwUto watch the video.

Process Questions:
1. How are patterns formed?

2. Where can you see patterns?

3. How are the designs from around the world formed?

Activity 5. Patterns are Everywhere

Sum-up what you have learned by completing the statement below

A pattern is formed when
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To complete a continuing pattern, just identify the
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Activity 6
Process Questions:
1. In what ways can you express a sequence?
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2. When is a list of numbers called a sequence?
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3. When is a sequence finite or infinite?
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Activity 7
Find the next term of the following sequence
1. 31,24,17,10,___
2. -14,-10,-6,-2,____,____,____
3. ¾, 5/8, 1/2, 3/8,_____,______,______

In an arithmetic sequence, the difference between consecutive terms is always the same.

For example, the sequence 3, 5, 7, 9 ... is arithmetic because the difference between consecutive
terms is always two.
+2 +2 +2
3, 5, 7, 9,…

The sequence 21, 16, 11, 6 ... is arithmetic as well because the difference between consecutive
terms is always minus five.

-5 -5 -5
21 16 11 6,…

The sequence 1, 2, 4, 8 ... is not arithmetic because the difference between consecutive terms is
not the same.
+1 +2 +4
1 2 4 8,…

Activity 8
Process Questions:
1. How will you know if the given sequence is arithmetic or not?
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2. How will you determine the given examples of and non-examples of arithmetic
sequence?
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An arithmetic series is the sum of an arithmetic sequence. We find the sum by adding the first,
a1 and last term, an, divide by 2 in order to get the mean of the two values and then multiply by
the number of values, n:

𝑛
𝑆𝑛 = (𝑎1 +𝑎𝑛 )
2

Example:

Find the sum of the following arithmetic series 1,2,3…..99,100

We have a total of 100 values, hence n=100. Our first value is 1 and our last is 100. We plug
these values into our formula and get:
100
𝑆100 = (1+100) = 5050
2

Activity 9. Synthesis Journal

Complete the table below.
Lesson What I did What did I learned How can I use it
Arithmetic Sequence

Arithmetic Series

End of Deepen
In this section, the discussion was about the application of arithmetic sequence and series. Now that
you have a deeper understanding of the topic, you are ready to do the tasks in the next section.