Convergence and Divergence of a Sequence

MTH 311 – Calculus 3

Prepared by:
Tom Paulie M. Tongol
REVIEW: Sequence & Series

• A sequence is an ordered list of numbers or elements.

Example:
3, 7, 11, 15, 19, 23, 27

• A series is the sum of numbers in the sequence.

Example:
3 + 7 + 11 + 15 + 19 + 23 + 27
REVIEW: Sequence & Series
• Arithmetic Sequence – has a common difference.
Example: 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17
• Geometric Sequence – has a common ratio.
Example: 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96

• Harmonic Sequence – formed by taking the reciprocal of every

term in arithmetic sequence.
Example: 1/4, 1/7, 1/10, 1/13, 1/16
 Sequence Series

3, 7, 11, 15, 19 3 + 7 + 11 + 15 + 19

A finite sequence is a sequence that

contains a finite number of terms. It
Finite will always end or terminate.

3, 7, 11, 15, 19, … 3 + 7 + 11 + 15 + 19, …

An infinite sequence is a sequence

that contains infinitely many terms.
It will never end.
Infinite
Try this!
Describe the pattern of numbers shown below. (1) Is it sequence or
series? (2) Is it finite or infinite? (3) Arithmetic, Geometric, or Neither?

1.) 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20 Sequence Finite Arithmetic

2.) 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, … Sequence Infinite Geometric
3.) 6+11+16+21+26+… Series Infinite Arithmetic
4.) 3+9+18+54+162 Series Finite Geometric
5.) 2, 4, 12, 48, 240, … Sequence Infinite Neither
REVIEW: Arithmetic Sequence
2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17
𝑎1 𝑎2 𝑎3 𝑎4 𝑎5 𝑎6
Formula for the nth term (Explicit Formula):
𝒂𝒏 = 𝒂𝟏 + 𝒏 − 𝟏 𝒅
Formula for the arithmetic mean: where:
𝒂+𝒃
𝑴= n = number of terms
𝟐
d = common difference
Formula for the sum of n terms (partial sums):
𝒂𝟏 = 1st term
𝒂𝟏 +𝒂𝒏
𝑺𝒏 = (𝒏) 𝒂𝒏 = nth term
𝟐
Example #1:
Given the arithmetic sequence (3, 7, 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, …),
determine the values of the following:
1.) d
2.) 𝑎10
3.) M of 𝑎8 and 𝑎10
4.) 𝑆10
5.) 𝑆20
Solution:
Given the arithmetic sequence (3, 7, 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, …),
determine the values of the following:

1.) d = 4

2.) 𝑎10 𝑎𝑛 = 𝑎1 + 𝑛 − 1 𝑑 𝑎10 = 3 + 36

𝑎10 = 3 + 10 − 1 (4) 𝒂𝟏𝟎 = 𝟑𝟗
𝑎10 = 3 + (9)(4)
Solution:
Given the arithmetic sequence (3, 7, 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, …),
determine the values of the following:

3.) M of 𝑎8 and 𝑎10

31 + 39
𝑎+𝑏 𝑀=
𝑎8 = 𝑎7 + 𝑑 2
𝑀=
𝑎8 = 27 + 4 2 70
𝑀=
𝑎8 = 31 𝑎8 + 𝑎10 2
𝑀=
2
𝑴 = 𝟑𝟓
Solution:
Given the arithmetic sequence (3, 7, 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, …),
determine the values of the following:

𝑎1 + 𝑎𝑛
4.) 𝑆10 𝑆𝑛 = (𝑛) 𝑆10 = 21 (10)
2
3 + 39 𝑺𝟏𝟎 = 𝟐𝟏𝟎
𝑆10 = (10)
2
42
𝑆10 = (10)
2
Solution:
Given the arithmetic sequence (3, 7, 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, …),
determine the values of the following:
5.) 𝑆20
𝑎1 + 𝑎𝑛
𝑎𝑛 = 𝑎1 + 𝑛 − 1 𝑑 𝑆𝑛 = (𝑛) 𝑆20 = 41 (20)
2
𝑎20 = 3 + 20 − 1 (4) 3 + 79 𝑺𝟐𝟎 = 𝟖𝟐𝟎
𝑆20 = (20)
𝑎20 = 3 + (19)(4) 2
𝑎20 = 3 + 76 82
𝑆20 = (20)
𝑎20 = 79 2
Example #2:

Write the first 5 terms of an arithmetic sequence with

𝑎1 = 29 and 𝑑 = −4.
𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐑: 𝟐𝟗, 𝟐𝟓, 𝟐𝟏, 𝟏𝟕, 𝟏𝟑
𝑎1 = 29
𝑎2 = 𝑎1 + 𝑑 𝑎2 = 29 + −4 = 𝟐𝟓
𝑎3 = 𝑎2 + 𝑑 𝑎3 = 25 + −4 = 𝟐𝟏
𝑎4 = 𝑎3 + 𝑑 𝑎4 = 21 + −4 = 𝟏𝟕
𝑎5 = 𝑎4 + 𝑑 𝑎5 = 17 + −4 = 𝟏𝟑
REVIEW: Geometric Sequence
2 + 5 + 8 + 11 + 14 + 17
𝑎1 𝑎2 𝑎3 𝑎4 𝑎5 𝑎6
Formula for the nth term:
𝒂𝒏 = 𝒂𝟏 𝒓(𝒏−𝟏)
Formula for the arithmetic mean: where:
𝑴= 𝒂∗𝒃 n = number of terms
Formula for the sum of n terms (partial sums): r = common ratio
𝒂𝟏 (𝟏−𝒓𝒏 ) 𝒂𝟏 = 1st term
𝑺𝒏 = 𝒂𝒏 = nth term
𝟏−𝒓
Example:
Given the geometric sequence (3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96, 192, …),
determine the values of the following:
1.) r
2.) 𝑎9
3.) M of 𝑎7 and 𝑎9
4.) 𝑆9
5.) 𝑆15
Solution:
Given the geometric sequence (3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96, 192, …),
determine the values of the following:

1.) r = 2

2.) 𝑎9 𝑎𝑛 = 𝑎1 𝑟 (𝑛−1) 𝑎9 = (3)(256)

(9−1) 𝒂𝟗 = 𝟕𝟔𝟖
𝑎9 = (3)(2)
𝑎9 = (3)(2)(8)
Solution:
Given the geometric sequence (3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96, 192, …),
determine the values of the following:

3.) M of 𝑎7 and 𝑎9
𝑀 = 𝑎∗𝑏
𝑀 = 𝑎7 ∗ 𝑎9

𝑀 = 192 ∗ 768 𝑴 = 𝟑𝟖𝟒

Solution:
Given the geometric sequence (3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96, 192, …),
determine the values of the following:
𝑎1 (1 − 𝑟 𝑛 ) 3(−511)
4.) 𝑆9 𝑆𝑛 = 𝑆9 =
1−𝑟 −1
3(1 − 29 ) −1533
𝑆9 = 𝑆9 =
1−2 −1
3(1 − 512)
𝑆9 = 𝑺𝟗 = 𝟏𝟓𝟑𝟑
−1
Solution:
Given the geometric sequence (3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96, 192, …),
determine the values of the following:
𝑎1 (1 − 𝑟 𝑛 ) 3(−32768)
5.) 𝑆15 𝑆𝑛 = 𝑆15 =
1−𝑟 −1
3(1 − 215 ) −98301
𝑆15 = 𝑆15 =
1−2 −1
3(1 − 32768)
𝑆15 = 𝑺𝟏𝟓 = 𝟗𝟖𝟑𝟎𝟏
−1
Try this!
1.) Find the sum of the first 200 natural numbers.
𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 … + 200

𝑎1 + 𝑎𝑛 201
𝑆𝑛 = (𝑛) 𝑆200 = (200)
2 2
1 + 200 𝑆200 = 100.5 (200)
𝑆200 = (200)
2 𝑺𝟐𝟎𝟎 = 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟎𝟎
Monotonic & Bounded Sequence

• A sequence is nothing more than a list of numbers

written in a specific order.
• General sequence terms are denoted as follows:
• In the notation above we need
to be very careful with the
subscripts.
Monotonic & Bounded Sequence
• The subscript of “n+1” denotes the next term in the
sequence and NOT one plus the nth term! In other
words,
Example 1: Write down the first few terms of each of the
following sequences.

To get the first few sequence terms

here all we need to do is plug in
values of n into the formula given
and we’ll get the sequence terms.
Monotonic & Bounded Sequence

• Monotonic sequence is a sequence that is always

moving in one direction.

• The values of the term of a given sequence is either

increasing or decreasing.
Monotonic & Bounded Sequence

• The sequence is increasing if a1 ≤ a2 ≤ a3 ≤ a4

an
• Prove using the formula: (an ≤ an+1 ) OR ≤1
an+1

• The sequence is decreasing if a1 ≥ a2 ≥ a3 ≥ a4

an
• Prove using the formula: (an ≥ an+1 ) OR ≥1
an+1
Increasing Monotonic
Sequence

Decreasing
Monotonic Sequence

Not Monotonic / Non-monotonic Sequence

Example #1:

= { 2, 0.75, 0.44, 0.31, 0.24, …… }

Since the terms are decreasing, show that 𝑎1 ≥ 𝑎2 by proving

an
𝒂𝒏 ≥ 𝒂𝒏+𝟏 or ≥ 1.
an+1
 𝒏+𝟏
Example #1: Hence, 𝟐 is a decreasing monotonic sequence.
𝒏

an
Prove that 𝒂𝒏 ≥ 𝒂𝒏+𝟏 or ≥ 1 given the sequence
an+1
𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:
𝑎𝑛 ≥ 𝑎𝑛+1 an
≥1 𝑛=1 4
an+1 2∗ ≥1
𝑛+1 𝑛+1+1 2 3 3
≥ ≥ 𝑛+1 1+1
𝑛2 (𝑛 + 1)2 1 (2)2 𝑛2 1 2
≥1 ≥1 8
𝑛+1+1 1+2 ≥1
𝑛+1 𝑛+2 3 3
≥ 2≥ 𝑛+1 2 1+1 2
𝑛2 (𝑛 + 1)2 4
2 𝟐. 𝟔𝟕 ≥ 𝟏
𝟐 ≥ 𝟎. 𝟕𝟓 𝑛+1
𝑛=1 𝑛2 1 ≥1
≥1 3
1+1 1+2 𝑛+2
≥ 𝑛+1 2 2 2
12 (1 + 1)2
Example #2:
𝟑𝒏
Determine if the sequence 𝒂𝒏 = is a monotonic sequence (either
𝒏+𝟐
increasing or decreasing), or not monotonic.
𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:
n=1 n=2 n=3 n=4

3 1 3 2 3 3 3 4
𝑎1 = =𝟏 𝑎2 = = 𝟏. 𝟓 𝑎3 = = 𝟏. 𝟖 𝑎4 = =𝟐
1+2 2+2 3+2 4+2

3𝑛 Since the terms are increasing, show that

𝑎𝑛 = = {1, 1.5, 1.8, 2, … } a
𝑛+2 𝑎1 ≤ 𝑎2 by proving 𝒂𝒏 ≤ 𝒂𝒏+𝟏 or n ≤ 1.
an+1
 𝟑𝒏
Example #2: Hence,
𝒏+𝟐
is an increasing monotonic sequence.

an 𝟑𝒏
Prove that 𝒂𝒏 ≤ 𝒂𝒏+𝟏 or ≤ 1 given the sequence 𝒂𝒏 =
an+1 𝒏+𝟐
𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:
𝑎𝑛 ≤ 𝑎𝑛+1 an
≤1 𝑛=1 4
an+1 1∗ ≤1
3𝑛 3(𝑛 + 1) 3 3+3 6
≤ ≤ 3𝑛 3(1)
𝑛+2 𝑛+1+2 3 4 𝑛+2 ≤1 1+2 ≤1 4
3(𝑛 + 1) 3 1 +3 ≤1
3𝑛 3𝑛 + 3 6 1+3 6
≤ 1≤ 𝑛+1+2
𝑛+2 𝑛+3 4
3 𝟎. 𝟔𝟕 ≤ 𝟏
𝟏 ≤ 𝟏. 𝟓 3𝑛
𝑛=1 𝑛+2 ≤1 3 ≤1
3𝑛 + 3 3+3
3(1) 3(1) + 3
≤ 𝑛+3 4
1+2 1+3
• If there exists a number M such that an ≤ M for
every n, we say the sequence is bounded above. The
number M is sometimes called an upper bound for the
sequence.

M (ceiling)

Bounded above
𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝒂𝒏 = ±∞
𝒏→∞
• If there exists a number m such that an ≥ m for every n,
we say the sequence is bounded below. The
number m is sometimes called a lower bound for the
sequence.

m (floor)
Bounded below
𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝒂𝒏 = ±∞
𝒏→∞
• If the sequence is m ≤ an ≤ M , both bounded below and
bounded above we call the sequence bounded.

M (ceiling) Bounded
𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝒂𝒏 = ℝ
m (floor) 𝒏→∞

M (ceiling) M (ceiling)

m (floor) m (floor)
Not Bounded
Example 1:

x 1 2 3 4 5 50 100
y 2 0.75 0.4444 0.3125 0.24 0.0204 0.0101

M (ceiling) Monotonic (decreasing)

m (floor) Bounded
 Example 2:

3𝑛 x 1 2 3 4 5 100 1,000 100,000

𝑎𝑛 =
𝑛+2 y 1 1.5 1.8 2 2.14 2.94 2.994 2.99994

M (ceiling) Monotonic (increasing)

m (floor) Bounded
Convergence & Divergence of a Sequence

• If the sequence an is bounded (both above and below) and

monotonic, then the sequence an is convergent.
• A convergent sequence has a limit — that is, it
approaches a real number.
• A divergent sequence doesn't have a limit.
• A sequence is divergent if it fails to approach any real
number.
 x 1 2 3 4 5 50 100
y 2 0.75 0.4444 0.3125 0.24 0.0204 0.0101

M (ceiling) Monotonic (decreasing)

m (floor) Bounded
Convergent
But can we instantly determine if a certain sequence converges
or diverges without knowing if it’s monotonic and bounded?
Yes! Thru LIMITS! ☺
 𝑛+1
lim
𝑛→∞ 𝑛2

• Let n = 999,999,999 or 1,000,000 as n→ ∞.

• To be safe, try to solve the limit using both values.
• If both results are approximately equal, then it
converges.
• If not, or if the result is ”MATH ERROR”, then it
diverges.
Working Definition of Limit

We say that

𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝒂𝒏 = 𝑳
𝒏→∞

if we can make an as close to L as we want for all

sufficiently large n. In other words, the value of the an’s
approach L as n approaches infinity.
Working Definition of Limit

We say that

𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝒂𝒏 = ∞
𝒏→∞

if we can make an as large as we want for all sufficiently

large n. Again, in other words, the value of the an’s get
larger and larger without bound as n approaches infinity.
Working Definition of Limit

We say that

𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝒂𝒏 = –∞
𝒏→∞

if we can make an as large and negative as we want for

all sufficiently large n. Again, in other words, the value of
the an’s are negative and get larger and larger without
bound as n approaches infinity.
x 1 2 3 4 5 50 100 ∞
y 2 0.75 0.4444 0.3125 0.24 0.0204 0.0101 0

M (ceiling) Monotonic (decreasing)

m (floor) Bounded
Convergent
∞ 𝑛
𝑛+1 −1
= 𝑙𝑖𝑚 =0
𝑛2 𝑛=1
𝑛→∞ 𝑛2
Example #1:

𝑛 ∞ −1 𝑛
−1
𝑛
lim
𝑛=1 𝑛→∞ 𝑛
−𝟏 𝒏
𝑨𝑵𝑺𝑾𝑬𝑹: 𝐥𝐢𝐦 =𝟎
𝒏→∞ 𝒏
The sequence is convergent.
Example #2:

∞𝑛
{ −1 }𝑛=0 lim −1 𝑛
𝑛→∞

𝑨𝑵𝑺𝑾𝑬𝑹: 𝒍𝒊𝒎 −𝟏 𝒏 = 𝟏 𝒐𝒓 − 𝟏
𝒏→∞

The sequence is divergent.

Example #3:

3𝑛2 −1
∞ 3𝑛2 − 1
lim
10𝑛 + 5𝑛2 𝑛=2
𝑛→∞ 10𝑛 + 5𝑛2

−𝟏 𝟑𝒏 𝟐 𝟑
𝑨𝑵𝑺𝑾𝑬𝑹: 𝒍𝒊𝒎 = 𝟎. 𝟔 𝑶𝑹
𝒏→∞ 𝟏𝟎𝒏 + 𝟓𝒏𝟐 𝟓
The sequence is convergent.
Example #4:

1 1
𝑎𝑛 = 𝑛 lim 𝑛
3 𝑛→∞ 3

𝟏
𝑨𝑵𝑺𝑾𝑬𝑹: 𝒍𝒊𝒎 𝒏 = 𝑫𝑵𝑬, 𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝑬𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓
𝒏→∞ 𝟑

The sequence is divergent.