MATHEMATICS IN
THE MODERN
WORLD
S__Q__ __ __ __E
SEQUENCE
The Fibonacci Sequence
Specific Objectives:
• To define sequence and its types
• To differentiate Fibonacci sequence from other
types of sequence
• To learn how to compute for the nth term in the
Fibonacci Sequence
Sequence refers to an ordered list of
numbers called terms, that may have
repeated values.
As shown above, the elements in the sequence are called terms.
It is called sequence because the list is ordered and it follows a
certain kind of pattern that must be recognized in order to see
the expanse.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF SEQUENCE
1. Arithmetic Sequence- It is a sequence of
numbers that follows a definite pattern. To determine
if the series of numbers follow an arithmetic
sequence, check the difference between two
consecutive terms. If common difference is observed,
then definitely arithmetic sequence governed the
pattern.
2. Geometric Sequence- If in the arithmetic
sequence we need to check for the common
difference, in geometric sequence we need to look
for common ratio. The illustrated in the example
below, geometric sequence is not as obvious as the
arithmetic sequence. All possibilities must be
explored until some patterns of uniformity can
intelligently be struck.
At first it may seem like pattern less but only by
digging a little bit deeper that we can finally
2 8 32
delve the constancy. That is , , ,…
8 32 128
generate 4, 4, 4,…
3. Harmonic Sequence- In the sequence, the
reciprocal of the term behaved in a manner like
arithmetic sequence. Consider the example below
and notice an interesting pattern in the series. With
this pattern, the reciprocal appears like arithmetic
sequence.
𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
, , , , ,…
𝟐 𝟒 𝟔 𝟖 𝟏𝟎
4. Fibonacci Sequence- This specific
sequence was named after an Italian mathematician
Leonardo Pisano Bigollo. He discovered the sequence
while he was studying rabbits. The Fibonacci
sequence is a series of numbers governed by some
unusual arithmetic rule. The sequence is organized in
a way a number can be obtained by adding the
two previous numbers.
To explore a little bit more about the Fibonacci Sequence,
the location of the term was conventionally tagged as
Fib(n). This means Fib(1)=1, Fib(2)=1, Fib(3)=2, and
Fib(4)=3. In this method, the Fib(n) is actually referring to
the nth term of the sequence. It is also possible to make
some sort of addition in this sequence. For instance:
Fib(2) + Fib(6)= ?
Fib(2) refers to the 2nd term in the sequence which is “1”.
And Fib(6) refers to the 6th term which is “8”. So, the
answer to that question is simply “9”
The Fibonacci Sequence can be defined by the
following three equations:
𝐹0 = 0 (applies only to the first integer)
𝐹1 = 1 (applies only to the second integer)
𝐹𝑛 = 𝐹𝑛−1 + 𝐹𝑛−2 (applies to all other integers)
Formula for computing for the nth term in the Fibonacci
sequence
𝒏 𝒏
𝒙𝒏 = ∅ − (𝟏 − ∅)
𝟓
Where:
𝒙𝒏 stands for the Fibonacci number we’re looking for
N stands for the position of the number in the Fibonacci
sequence
∅ stands for the value of the golden ratio (1.618)
Example: Use the formula.
What is the 5 th Fibonacci number?
What is the 10 th Fibonacci number?
