IB DP Math AI HL Year 1 ALGEBRA

2. Arithmetic Series & Sequences

FORMULAE

Arithmetic Sequence and Series

1) 𝑈𝑛 = 𝑈1 + (𝑛 − 1)𝑑 [BOOKLET]
𝑈𝑛 − 𝑈1
2) 𝑛= +1 [NO BOOKLET]
𝑑

3) 𝑆𝑛 = ∑𝑛 𝑛
𝑟=1(𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚) = ∑𝑟=1(𝑟
𝑡ℎ
𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚) [NO BOOKLET]
𝑛
4) 𝑆𝑛 = [2𝑈1 + (𝑛 − 1)𝑑] when 𝑈1 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 [BOOKLET]
2

𝑛
5) 𝑆𝑛 = [𝑈1 + 𝑈𝑛 ] when 𝑈1 and 𝑈𝑛 are given [BOOKLET]
2

6) 𝑈𝑛 = 𝑆𝑛 − 𝑆𝑛−1 [NO BOOKLET]

Math SL

Basic Questions

1. Consider the terms 4, 9, 14, 19, 24 ………..

(a) Do these terms form a sequence. Can you name it?

(b) Write down the common difference

(c) Using GDC, find the general term, in terms of 𝑛

(d) Using GDC, find which term of this sequence is equal to 204?

2. Consider the terms 74, 68, 62, 56, 50 ………..

(a) Do these terms form a sequence. Can you name it?

(b) Write down the common difference

(c) Using GDC, find the general term, in terms of 𝑛

(d) Using GDC, find which term of this sequence is equal to −304?

3. Consider the terms 15, 17, 25, 39, 59, 85 ………..

(a) Do these terms form a sequence. Do they follow an A.P?

(b) Is there a common difference ?

(c) Using GDC, find the general term, in terms of 𝑛

(d) Using GDC, find which term of this sequence is equal to 2867?

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4. Consider the terms 11, 3, −15, −43, −81 ………..

(a) Do these terms form a sequence. Do they follow an A.P?

(b) Is there a common difference ?

(c) Using GDC, find the general term, in terms of 𝑛

(d) Using GDC, find which term of this sequence is equal to −2941?

5. Consider the terms −1, 1, 15, 47 , 103, 189 ………..

(a) Do these terms form a sequence. Do they follow an A.P?

(b) Is there a common difference ?

(c) Using GDC, find the general term, in terms of 𝑛

(d) Using GDC, find which term of this sequence is equal to 32611?

6. Consider the terms 9, 23, 61, 135 , 257, 439, 693 ………..

(a) Do these terms form a sequence. Do they follow an A.P?

(b) Is there a common difference ?

(c) Using GDC, find the general term, in terms of 𝑛

(d) Using GDC, find which term of this sequence is equal to 43911?

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1. An arithmetic sequence has first term 7 and common difference 8. Find the 10th term.

Ans: 79

2. The third term of an arithmetic sequence is 10 and the 15th term is 46.

Find the first term and the common difference. Ans: 𝑢1 = 4, 𝑑 = 3

3. Find the number of terms in the arithmetic sequence 1, 4, 7,... , 100. Ans : 34

4. Calculate

(a) ∑8𝑟=1 4 (b) ∑7𝑟=1(2𝑟 + 7) (c) ∑10

𝑟=1(3𝑟 + 4) (d ∑17
𝑟=5(6𝑟 − 4)

5. An arithmetic sequence has first term 7 and common difference 11.

(a) Find the 20th term of the sequence. Ans : 216

(b) Find the sum of the first 20 terms. Ans : 2230

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6. The first term of an arithmetic sequence is 3 and the second term is 7.

(a) Write down the common difference. Ans : 4

(b) Find the eighth term of the sequence. Ans : 31

(c) Find the sum of the first 15 terms. Ans :465

7. In an arithmetic sequence, the second term is 13 and the common difference is 5.

(a) Write down the first term. Ans: 8

(b) Find the sum of the first 10 terms. Ans: 𝑆18 = 945

8. The first term of an arithmetic sequence is −8 and the 16th term is 67.

(a) Find the common difference. Ans: 𝑑 = 5

(b) Find the 25th term. Ans : 112

9. An arithmetic sequence has first term 11 and last term 75.

(a) Given the common difference is 8, find the sum of the terms. Ans: 387

(b) Given the common difference is 4, find the sum of the terms. Ans: 731

10. In an arithmetic sequence, the 10th term is 26 and the 30th term is 83. Find the 50th term.
Ans: 𝑢1 = 0.35, 𝑑 = 2.85, 𝑢50 = 140

11. In an A.P, the first term is 8, the common difference is 3 and the last term is 68.

(a) How many terms are there in this sequence? Ans: 21

(b) Find the sum of all the terms of the sequence. Ans: 798

12. The 7𝑡ℎ term of an arithmetic sequence is 35 and the 18𝑡ℎ term is 112.

(a) Find the common difference and the first term of the sequence. Ans: 𝑑 = 7, 𝑢1 = −7

(b) Find the sum of the first 18 terms. Ans: 𝑆18 = 945

13. A sequence is defined by 𝑢𝑛+1 = 𝑢𝑛 + 4 .If 𝑢1 = 10 find ∑20

𝑟=1 𝑢𝑟 .

14. (a) The arithmetic sequence U has first term 7, common difference 12 and last term 139.
Find the sum of terms in U. Ans: 𝑆12 = 876

(b) The arithmetic sequence V has the same first and last terms as sequence U but has
common difference 6. Find the sum of terms in V. Ans: 𝑆23 = 1679

(c) The arithmetic sequence W has the same first term and common difference as V, and the
same number of terms as U. Find the sum of terms in W. Ans: 𝑆12 = 480

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15. The second term of an arithmetic sequence is 7. The sum of the first four terms of the
arithmetic sequence is 12.

Find the first term, a, and the common difference, d, of the sequence. Ans : 𝑎 = 15, 𝑑 = −8

16. The 𝑛𝑡ℎ term of an arithmetic series is (𝟓 + 𝟐𝒏).

Calculate the sum of first 20 terms Ans: 𝑆20 = 520 [3]

17. In an arithmetic progression, the first term is −10, the 15𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚 𝑖𝑠 11 and the last term is
41. Find the sum of all terms in the progression Ans: 𝑑 = 1, 𝑛 = 35 𝑆35 = 542.5 [4]

18. The sum of first 15 terms of an A.P is 105 and the sum of next 15 terms is 780.
Find the first three terms of the A.P Ans: .−14 , −11 , −8 [4]

19. If the 10th term of an A.P is 21 and sum of its first 10 terms is 120. Find its 𝑛th term [4]
Ans : 2𝑛 + 1

20. The angles of a quadrilateral are in A.P whose common difference is 20° . Find the angle
Ans: 60°, 80°, 100°, 120° [4]
21. The 𝑛𝑡ℎ term of an arithmetic series is (2𝑛 – 5).

(a) Write down the first three terms of this series. Ans: −3 , −1 , 1 [2]

(b) State the value of the common difference. Ans: 𝑑 = 2 [1]

(c) Calculate the sum of first 𝑛 terms Ans : 𝑆𝑛 = 𝑛2 − 4𝑛 [3]

22. In an arithmetic sequence, the third term is 10 and the fifth term is 16.

(a) Find the common difference Ans : 𝑑 = 3 [2]

(b) Find the first term Ans : 𝑎 = 4 [2]

(c) Find the sum of the first 20 terms of the sequence Ans : 𝑆20 = 650 [3]

23. In an arithmetic sequence the second term is 7 and the sum of the first five terms is 50.
Find the common difference of this arithmetic sequence. Ans: 𝑑 = 3 [6]

24. An arithmetic series has five terms. The first term is 2 and the last term is 32. Find the
sum of the series. Ans: S5 = 85 [4]

25. In an arithmetic sequence, the first term is 5 and the fourth term is 40. Find the second
2
term. Ans: 16 [4]
3
26. The first three terms of an arithmetic sequence are 7, 9.5, 12.

(a) What is the 41st term of the sequence? Ans: 107

(b) What is the sum of the first 101 terms of the sequence? Ans : S101 = 13332 [4]

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27. In an arithmetic sequence, the first term is –2, the fourth term is 16, and the nth term is
11 998.

(a) Find the common difference 𝑑. Ans: 𝑑 = 6

(b) Find the value of 𝑛. Ans: 𝑛 = 2001 [6]

28. The second term of an arithmetic sequence is 7. The sum of the first four terms of the
arithmetic sequence is 12. Find the first term, a, and the common difference, d, of the
sequence. Ans : 𝑎 = 15, 𝑑 = – 8 [4]

29. Find the sum of the arithmetic series 17 + 27 + 37 +...+ 417.

Ans : 𝑛 = 41, 𝑆41 = 8897 [4]

30. Three consecutive terms of an arithmetic sequence are 3𝑥 + 1, 2𝑥 + 1, 4𝑥 − 5.

Find the value of 𝑥. Ans: 𝑥 = 2

31. The first three terms of an arithmetic sequence are 1, 𝑎 , 3𝑎 + 5.

Evaluate the fourth term of the sequence. Ans : 1, −6 , −13 , −20

32. If (𝑘 − 3) , (2𝑘 + 1) and (4𝑘 + 3) are three consecutive terms of an A.P.,

find the value of 𝑘 [Ans : 𝒌 = 𝟐 ] [3]

33. The first three terms of an arithmetic series are 𝑝, 5𝑝 −8 and 3𝑝 + 8 respectively.

(a) Show that 𝑝 = 4. [2]

th
(b) Find the value of the 40 term of the series. Ans: 𝑈40 = 316 [3]

(c) Calculate the sum of first 40 terms of the series. [Ans : 𝑺𝟒𝟎 = 𝟔𝟒𝟎𝟎] [3]

34. The sums of the terms of a sequence follow the pattern

𝑆1 = 1 + 𝑘 , 𝑆2 = 5 + 3𝑘, 𝑆3 = 12 + 7𝑘, 𝑆4 = 22 + 15𝑘, …….. where 𝑘 ∈ 𝑍

(a) Given that 𝑢1 = 1 + 𝑘 , find 𝑢2 , 𝑢3 and 𝑢4 [4]

Ans : 𝑢2 = 2𝑘 + 4 , 𝑢3 = 4𝑘 + 7 , 𝑢4 = 8𝑘 + 10

(b) Find a general expression for 𝑢𝑛 Ans : 𝑢𝑛 = 2𝑛 𝑘 + 3𝑛 + 1 [4]

35. In an arithmetic sequence, the first term is 8 and the second term is 5.

(a) Find the common difference. Ans : 𝑑 = −3 [2]

(b) Find the tenth term. Ans : −19 [2]

(c) Find the sum of the first ten terms. Ans : 55 [2]

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36. Find the sum of all the integers between 100 and 400 which are divisible by 7

(a) Find the number of terms, between 100 and 400, which are divisible by 7. [1]
Ans : 𝑛 = 43

(b) Express the above sum using sigma notation. Ans: ∑43
𝑥=1(7𝑥 + 98) [1]

(c) Find the sum the integers, between 100 and 400, which are divisible by 7. [2]
Ans : 10,836

37. Find the sum of all the integers between 100 and 400 which are divisible by 6

(a) Find the number of terms, between 100 and 400, which are divisible by 6. [1]
Ans : 𝑛 = 50

(b) Express the above sum using sigma notation. Ans : ∑50
𝑥=1(6𝑥 + 96) [1]

(c) Find the sum the integers,between 100 and 400, which are divisible by 6. [2]
Ans : 12,450

38. Solve the equation 2 + 5 + 8 + . . … . . + 𝑥 = 155 Ans : 𝑥 = 29 [4]

39. Find the sum of the +𝒗𝒆 terms of the arithmetic sequence 85, 78, 71, ....... [3]
Ans : S13 = 559

40. (a) (i) Find the number of terms, between 10 and 200, which are divisible by 7.

(ii) Express the above sum using sigma notation. Ans :(i) 𝑛 = 27 (ii) ∑27
𝑥=1(7𝑥 + 7)

(iii)
Calculate the sum of the integers, between 10 and 200, which are divisible by 7.
Ans : (iii) 2835
41. An arithmetic sequence has first term 1000 and common difference of −𝟔 .

(a) Which term of this sequence becomes first negative. Ans : 168th term = −2

(b) Find the sum of the positive terms . Ans : 𝑆167 = 153139 [2]

42. An arithmetic sequence has 5 and 13 as its first two terms respectively.

(a) Write down, in terms of n, an expression for the 𝑛𝑡ℎ term, 𝑈𝑛 . Ans : 8𝑛 − 3

(b) Find the number of terms of the sequence which are less than 400. Ans : 50 [4]

43. The ratio of the fifth term to the twelfth term of a sequence in an arithmetic progression
is 6 . If each term of this sequence is positive, and the product of the first term and the
13
third term is 32, find the sum of the first 100 terms of this sequence. [7]

Ans : 𝑑 = 2. 𝑆100 = 10300

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44. Let Sn be the sum of the first n terms of an arithmetic sequence, whose first three terms
are u1, u2 and u3. It is known that S1 = 7, and S2 = 18.

(a) Write down 𝑢1 . Ans : 𝑢1 = 7

(b) Calculate the common difference of the sequence. Ans : 𝑑 = 4
(c) Calculate 𝑢4 Ans : 𝑢4 = 19 [6]

45. The sum of the first n terms of an arithmetic sequence is denoted by 𝑆𝑛 .

Given that 𝑆𝑛 = 2 𝑛2 + 𝑛
(a) find the first two terms of the sequence

(b) hence find the 50𝑡ℎ term.

46. The sum of the first n terms of a sequence is given by 𝑆𝑛 = 𝑛2 + 4 𝑛

Find an expression for the 𝑛𝑡ℎ term of the sequence.

47. The sum of the first n terms of an arithmetic sequence is Sn = 3n2 – 2n.

Find the 𝑛𝑡ℎ term 𝑈𝑛 . Ans : 6𝑛 – 5 [3]

48. The sum of the first n terms of a series is given by

Sn = 2n2 – n, where n  +.

(a) Find the first three terms of the series. Ans: (a) 1, 5, 9 (b) nth term = 4𝑛 − 3
(b) Find an expression for the nth term of the series, giving your answer in terms of 𝑛. [6]

3 𝑛2 13
49. In A.P, 𝑆𝑛 = + 𝑛 . Find the 25𝑡ℎ term Ans: 80 [4]
2 2

50. Each day a runner trains for a 10 km race. On the first day she runs 1000 m, and then
increases the distance by 250 m on each subsequent day.

(a) On which day does she run a distance of 10 km in training?

Ans: She runs 10 km on the 37th day

(b) What is the total distance she will have run in training by the end of that day?
Give your answer exactly. Ans : She has run a total of 203.5 km [6]

51. Arturo goes swimming every week. He swims 200 metres in the first week. Each week
he swims 30 metres more than the previous week. He continues for one year (52
weeks).
(a) How far does Arturo swim in the final week? Ans : 1730 m
(b) How far does he swim altogether? Ans : 50180km [6]

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52. A theatre has 20 rows of seats. There are 15 seats in the first row, 17 seats in the second
row, and each successive row of seats has two more seats in it than the previous row.

(a) Calculate the number of seats in the 20th row. Ans : 53 seats in the 20th row

(b) Calculate the total number of seats. Ans : 680 seats in total [6]

53. Joe plays a game five times and scores 53, 94, 126, 170 and finally 211.
Modelling the data as an arithmetic sequence, predict the score he might get on his 10th
attempt, if his pattern continues consistently.

54. A survey of the number of ducks seen on a lake on the first four days of the inward
migration period records 3, 12, 23 and then 33 ducks on the lake.

Modelling the data as an arithmetic sequence, predict the number of ducks seen on the
sixth day, if the pattern continues consistently. Ans: 53

55. In an effort to reduce his screen time, Stewart reduced his consumption by 5 minutes
each day. On day one of the program he looks at a screen for 200 minutes.

(a) Which is the first day on which his screen time is reduced to zero?

(b) For how many minutes in total has Stewart looked at a screen during this
program?

56. As part of a health program Theo tries to increase the number of steps he takes each day
by 500 steps.

On the first day he walks 1000 steps. Assume that he sticks to this plan.

(a) How long will it take him to get to 10 000 steps in a day?

(b) How long will it take him to complete a total of 540 000 steps

57. A rope of length 4 m is cut into 10 sections whose lengths form an arithmetic sequence.
The largest resulting part is 3 times larger than the smallest part.

Find the size of the smallest part.

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