Sequences and series [224 marks]

1a. [2 marks]
A large underground tank is constructed at Mills Airport to store fuel. The tank is in the
shape of an isosceles trapezoidal prism, ABCDEFGH.

AB = 70m , AF = 200m, AD = 40m, BC = 40m and CD = 110m. Angle ADC = 60

and angle BCD = 60. The tank is illustrated below.

Find h, the height of the tank.

1b. [3 marks]
Show that the volume of the tank is 624000m3, correct to three significant figures.

1c. [1 mark]
Once construction was complete, a fuel pump was used to pump fuel into the empty tank.
The amount of fuel pumped into the tank by this pump each hour decreases as an
arithmetic sequence with terms u1, u2, u3, …, un.

Part of this sequence is shown in the table.

Write down the common difference, d.

1d. [2 marks]
Find the amount of fuel pumped into the tank in the 13th hour.
1e. [2 marks]
Find the value of n such that un = 0.

1f. [1 mark]
Write down the number of hours that the pump was pumping fuel into the tank.
1g. [2 marks]
At the end of the 2nd hour, the total volume of fuel in the tank was 88200m3.

Find the total amount of fuel pumped into the tank in the first 8 hours.
1h. [3 marks]
Show that the tank will never be completely filled using this pump.
2a. [3 marks]
Maegan designs a decorative glass face for a new Fine Arts Centre. The glass face is made
up of small triangular panes. The first three levels of the glass face are illustrated in the
following diagram.

The 1st level, at the bottom of the glass face, has 5 triangular panes. The 2nd level has 7
triangular panes, and the 3rd level has 9 triangular panes. Each additional level has 2 more
triangular panes than the level below it.
Find the number of triangular panes in the 12th level.
2b. [3 marks]
Show that the total number of triangular panes, Sn, in the first n levels is given by:

Sn = n2 +4n.
2c. [2 marks]
Hence, find the total number of panes in a glass face with 18 levels.
2d. [3 marks]
Maegan has 1000 triangular panes to build the decorative glass face and does not want it
to have any incomplete levels.
Find the maximum number of complete levels that Maegan can build.
2e. [4 marks]
Each triangular pane has an area of 1.84m2.

Find the total area of the decorative glass face, if the maximum number of complete levels
were built. Express your area to the nearest m2.

3. [4 marks]
In an arithmetic sequence, the sum of the 3rd and 8th terms is 1.
Given that the sum of the first seven terms is 35, determine the first term and the
common difference.
4a. [3 marks]
The first terms of an infinite geometric sequence, un, are 2, 6, 18, 54, …

The first terms of a second infinite geometric sequence, vn, are 2, −6, 18, −54, …

The terms of a third sequence, wn, are defined as wn = un + vn.

Write down the first three non-zero terms of wn.

4b. [2 marks]

The finite series, ∑225

k=1 wk
, can also be written in the form ∑m
k=0 4r
k.

Find the value of r.

4c. [2 marks]
Find the value of m.
5a. [4 marks]
In an arithmetic sequence, u1 = 1.3 , u2 = 1.4 and uk = 31.2.

Find the value of k.

5b. [2 marks]
Find the exact value of Sk.
5c. [5 marks]
Consider the terms, un, of this sequence such that n ≤ k.

Let F be the sum of the terms for which n is not a multiple of 3.

Show that F = 3240.
5d. [5 marks]
a a
An infinite geometric series is given as S∞ = a + 2 + +…, a ∈ Z+.
2

Find the largest value of a such that S∞ < F.

6a. [1 mark]
On her first day in a hospital, Kiri receives u1 milligrams (mg) of a therapeutic drug. The
amount of the drug Kiri receives increases by the same amount, d, each day. On the seventh
day, she receives 21 mg of the drug, and on the eleventh day she receives 29 mg.
Write down an equation, in terms of u1 and d, for the amount of the drug that she
receives on the seventh day.
6b. [1 mark]
Write down an equation, in terms of u1 and d, for the amount of the drug that she receives
on the eleventh day.
6c. [2 marks]
Write down the value of d and the value of u1.

6d. [3 marks]
Kiri receives the drug for 30 days.
Calculate the total amount of the drug, in mg, that she receives.
6e. [3 marks]
Ted is also in a hospital and on his first day he receives a 20 mg antibiotic injection. The
amount of the antibiotic Ted receives decreases by 50 % each day. On the second day, Ted
receives a 10 mg antibiotic injection, on the third day he receives 5 mg, and so on.
Find the amount of antibiotic, in mg, that Ted receives on the fifth day.
6f. [3 marks]
The daily amount of antibiotic Ted receives will first be less than 0.06 mg on the k th day.
Find the value of k.
6g. [3 marks]
Hence find the total amount of antibiotic, in mg, that Ted receives during the first k days.
7. [7 marks]
Suppose that u1 is the first term of a geometric series with common ratio r.

Prove, by mathematical induction, that the sum of the first n terms, sn is given by
n
u1(1 - r )
sn = , where n ∈ Z+.
1-r

8. [2 marks]
In an arithmetic sequence, u1 = −5 and d = 3.
Find u8.
9. [6 marks]
The sum of an infinite geometric sequence is 33.25. The second term of the sequence is
7.98. Find the possible values of r.
10a. [3 marks]
Consider a geometric sequence with a first term of 4 and a fourth term of −2.916.
Find the common ratio of this sequence.
10b. [2 marks]
Find the sum to infinity of this sequence.
11a. [2 marks]
Sergei is training to be a weightlifter. Each day he trains at the local gym by lifting a metal
bar that has heavy weights attached. He carries out successive lifts. After each lift, the same
amount of weight is added to the bar to increase the weight to be lifted.
The weights of each of Sergei’s lifts form an arithmetic sequence.
Sergei’s friend, Yuri, records the weight of each lift. Unfortunately, last Monday, Yuri
misplaced all but two of the recordings of Sergei’s lifts.
On that day, Sergei lifted 21 kg on the third lift and 46 kg on the eighth lift.
For that day find how much weight was added after each lift.
11b. [2 marks]
For that day find the weight of Sergei’s first lift.
11c. [2 marks]
On that day, Sergei made 12 successive lifts. Find the total combined weight of these lifts.
12. [6 marks]
An arithmetic sequence has u1 = logc(p) and u2 = logc(pq), where c > 1 and p,  q > 0
.

Let p = c2 and q = c3. Find the value of ∑20

n=1 un
.

13a. [4 marks]
The geometric sequence u1, u2, u3, … has common ratio r.
Consider the sequence A = {an = log2|un|: n ∈ Z+}.

Show that A is an arithmetic sequence, stating its common difference d in terms of r.

13b. [3 marks]
A particular geometric sequence has u1 = 3 and a sum to infinity of 4.
Find the value of d.
14a. [3 marks]
Give your answers to parts (b), (c) and (d) to the nearest whole number.
Harinder has 14 000 US Dollars (USD) to invest for a period of five years. He has two
options of how to invest the money.
Option A: Invest the full amount, in USD, in a fixed deposit account in an American bank.
The account pays a nominal annual interest rate of r % , compounded yearly, for the five
years. The bank manager says that this will give Harinder a return of 17 500 USD.
Calculate the value of r.
14b. [2 marks]
Option B: Invest the full amount, in Indian Rupees (INR), in a fixed deposit account in an
Indian bank. The money must be converted from USD to INR before it is invested.
The exchange rate is 1 USD = 66.91 INR.
Calculate 14 000 USD in INR.
14c. [3 marks]
The account in the Indian bank pays a nominal annual interest rate of 5.2 % compounded
monthly.
Calculate the amount of this investment, in INR, in this account after five years.
14d. [3 marks]
Harinder chose option B. At the end of five years, Harinder converted this investment back
to USD. The exchange rate, at that time, was 1 USD = 67.16 INR.
Calculate how much more money, in USD, Harinder earned by choosing option B instead of
option A.
15a. [2 marks]
The first term of an infinite geometric sequence is 4. The sum of the infinite sequence is
200.
Find the common ratio.
15b. [2 marks]
Find the sum of the first 8 terms.
15c. [3 marks]
Find the least value of n for which Sn > 163.
16a. [3 marks]
A new café opened and during the first week their profit was $60.
The café’s profit increases by $10 every week.
Find the café’s profit during the 11th week.
16b. [3 marks]
Calculate the café’s total profit for the first 12 weeks.
16c. [3 marks]
A new tea-shop opened at the same time as the café. During the first week their profit was
also $60.
The tea-shop’s profit increases by 10 % every week.
Find the tea-shop’s profit during the 11th week.
16d. [3 marks]
Calculate the tea-shop’s total profit for the first 12 weeks.
16e. [4 marks]
In the mth week the tea-shop’s total profit exceeds the café’s total profit, for the first time
since they both opened.
Find the value of m.
17a. [4 marks]
The 3rd term of an arithmetic sequence is 1407 and the 10th term is 1183.
Find the first term and the common difference of the sequence.
17b. [3 marks]
Calculate the number of positive terms in the sequence.
18a. [3 marks]
It is known that the number of fish in a given lake will decrease by 7% each year unless
some new fish are added. At the end of each year, 250 new fish are added to the lake.
At the start of 2018, there are 2500 fish in the lake.
Show that there will be approximately 2645 fish in the lake at the start of 2020.
18b. [5 marks]
Find the approximate number of fish in the lake at the start of 2042.
19a. [5 marks]
The following diagram shows [AB], with length 2 cm. The line is divided into an infinite
number of line segments. The diagram shows the first three segments.

The length of the line segments are p cm, p2 cm, p3 cm, …, where 0 < p < 1.
2
Show that p = .
3

19b. [9 marks]
The following diagram shows [CD], with length b cm, where b > 1. Squares with side
lengths k cm, k2 cm, k3 cm, …, where 0 < k < 1, are drawn along [CD]. This process is
carried on indefinitely. The diagram shows the first three squares.
 9
The total sum of the areas of all the squares is . Find the value of b.
16

20a. [2 marks]
In an arithmetic sequence, the first term is 8 and the second term is 5.
Find the common difference.
20b. [2 marks]
Find the tenth term.
20c. [2 marks]
Find the sum of the first ten terms.
21. [3 marks]
The speed of light is 300 000 kilometres per second. The average distance from the Sun to
the Earth is 149.6 million km.
Calculate the time, in minutes, it takes for light from the Sun to reach the Earth.
22a. [1 mark]
Rosa joins a club to prepare to run a marathon. During the first training session Rosa runs a
distance of 3000 metres. Each training session she increases the distance she runs by 400
metres.
Write down the distance Rosa runs in the third training session;
22b. [2 marks]
Write down the distance Rosa runs in the nth training session.
22c. [2 marks]
A marathon is 42.195 kilometres.
In the kth training session Rosa will run further than a marathon for the first time.
Find the value of k.
22d. [4 marks]
Calculate the total distance, in kilometres, Rosa runs in the first 50 training sessions.
22e. [3 marks]
Carlos joins the club to lose weight. He runs 7500 metres during the first month. The
distance he runs increases by 20% each month.
Find the distance Carlos runs in the fifth month of training.
22f. [3 marks]
Calculate the total distance Carlos runs in the first year.
23a. [3 marks]
Phil takes out a bank loan of $150 000 to buy a house, at an annual interest rate of 3.5%.
The interest is calculated at the end of each year and added to the amount outstanding.
Find the amount Phil would owe the bank after 20 years. Give your answer to the nearest
dollar.
23b. [3 marks]
To pay off the loan, Phil makes annual deposits of $P at the end of every year in a savings
account, paying an annual interest rate of 2% . He makes his first deposit at the end of the
first year after taking out the loan.
20
Show that the total value of Phil’s savings after 20 years is (1.02 - 1)P
.
(1.02 - 1)

23c. [3 marks]
Given that Phil’s aim is to own the house after 20 years, find the value for P to the nearest
dollar.
23d. [3 marks]
David visits a different bank and makes a single deposit of $Q , the annual interest rate
being 2.8%.
David wishes to withdraw $5000 at the end of each year for a period of n years. Show that
an expression for the minimum value of Q is
5000 5000 5000
+ +… + .
1.028 1.0282
1.028n
23e. [3 marks]
Hence or otherwise, find the minimum value of Q that would permit David to withdraw
annual amounts of $5000 indefinitely. Give your answer to the nearest dollar.
24. [3 marks]
The first three terms of a geometric sequence are lnx16, lnx8, lnx4, for x > 0.

Find the common ratio.

25a. [3 marks]
The company Snakezen’s Ladders makes ladders of different lengths. All the ladders that
the company makes have the same design such that:
the first rung is 30 cm from the base of the ladder,
the second rung is 57 cm from the base of the ladder,
the distance between the first and second rung is equal to the distance between all adjacent
rungs on the ladder.
The ladder in the diagram was made by this company and has eleven equally spaced rungs.
Find the distance from the base of this ladder to the top rung.
25b. [3 marks]
The company also makes a ladder that is 1050 cm long.
Find the maximum number of rungs in this 1050 cm long ladder.

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2021

International Baccalaureate® - Baccalauréat International® - Bachillerato Internacional®