30 2 Core: Sequences

TOK Links
Is all knowledge concerned with the identification and use of patterns? One sequence that
you may be interested in researching further is the Fibonacci sequence, in which each term
is the sum of the two preceding terms: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21… This sequence of numbers,
and the related golden ratio, can be seen occurring naturally in biological contexts, as well
as in human endeavours such as art and architecture. You might like to investigate how the
photographs on the covers of all four Hodder Education books for IB Diploma Mathematics
exhibit this sequence of numbers.

Exercise 2A
For questions 1 and 2, use the method demonstrated in Worked Example 2.1. to find the required term of the arithmetic
sequence.
1au 1 = 5, d = 4.
Find u 12. 2au = 13, d =− 7.
1 Find u 6.
bu 1 = 11, d = 3.
Find u 20. b u 1 = 11, d =− Find
3. u 18.
For questions 3 to 5, use the method demonstrated in Worked Example 2.2 to find the required feature of the arithmetic
sequence.
3 a u 1 = 7, u 5 = 15. Find d. 4 a u 1 = 10, u 21 = 0. Find d. 5 a u 8 = 12, u 11 = 33. Find u 1 and d.
b u 1 = 19, u 9 = 75. Find d. b u 1 = 100, u 9 = 80. Find d. b u 7 = 11, u 12 = 56. Find u 1 and d.
For questions 6 to 8, use the method demonstrated in Worked Example 2.1 and Worked Example 2.2 to find a formula
for the nth term of the arithmetic sequence described.
6 a u 1 = 8, d = -3 7 a u 1 = 3, u 5 = 11 8 a u 2 = 6, u 5 = 21
b u 1 = 10, d = 4 b u 1 = 10, u 11 = 50 b u 3 = 14, u 6 = -15
For questions 9 to 10, use the method demonstrated in Worked Example 2.3 to find the number of terms in each of the
given arithmetic sequences.
…
9 a 2, 8, 14, , 200 10 a 13, 7, 1, , 59… −
…
b 5, 9, 13, , 97 …−
b 95, 88, 81, , 101
For questions 11 to 13, use the method demonstrated in Worked Example 2.4 (and Worked Example 2.2) to find the
given sum.
11 a u 1 = 9, d = 4. Find S 12. 12 a u 1 = 34, d = -7. Find S 11. 13 a u 1 = 7, u 6 = 32. Find S 11.
b u 1 = 17, d = 2. Find S 20. b u 1 = 9, d = -11. Find S 8. b u 1 = 9, u 5 = 41. Find S 12.
For questions 14 and 15, use the method demonstrated in Worked Example 2.5 to find the given sum.
14 a u 1 = 9, u 8 = 37 Find S 8. 15 a u 1 = 27, u 10 = -36 Find S 10.
b u 1 = 4, u 12 = 61 Find S 12. b u 1 = 50, u 200 = -50 Find S 200.
For questions 16 to 18, use the method demonstrated in Worked Example 2.6 to evaluate the given sum.
8 7 17
4
16 a ∑ 17 a
∑ (2 r7)
+
18 a
∑(6−r4)
r =1 r =1 r =5
11 10 8
(3r4)
b
∑ 9 b
∑
r =1
+ b
∑(12− r7)
r =3
r =1
2A Arithmetic sequences and series 31

For questions 19 and 20, use the method demonstrated in Worked Example 2.7 to find the number of terms in the
arithmetic sequence.
19 a 4, 9, 14... S n = 442 20 a u 1 = 20, d = -1, S n = 200
b 8, 9, 10... S n = 125 b u 1 = 100, d = -5, S n = 1000
21 An arithmetic sequence has first term 7 and common difference 11.
a Find the 20th term of the sequence.
b Find the sum of the first 20 terms.
22 The first term of an arithmetic sequence is 3 and the second term is 7.
a Write down the common difference.
b Find the eighth term of the sequence.
c Find the sum of the first 15 terms.
23 In an arithmetic sequence, the second term is 13 and the common difference is 5.
a Write down the first term.
b Find the sum of the first 10 terms.
24 The first term of an arithmetic sequence is −8 and the 16th term is 67.
a Find the common difference.
b Find the 25th term.
25 Sam invests £300 at 4% simple interest. She does not withdraw any money.
a How much does she have in her account at the end of the first year?
b How much does she have in her account at the end of the 10th year?
26 On Daniel's first birthday, his grandparents started a saving account with £100. On each of his subsequent
birthdays they put £10 in the account. What is the total amount they have saved for Daniel after they have
deposited money on his 21st birthday? You may ignore any interest accrued.
27 The height of each step in a stairway follows an arithmetic sequence. The first step is 10 cm off the ground and
each subsequence step is 20 cm higher. If the staircase is 270 cm high, how many steps does it have?
28 An arithmetic sequence has first term 11 and last term 75.
a Given the common difference is 8, find the sum of the terms.
b Given the common difference is 4, find the sum of the terms.
29 In an arithmetic sequence, the 10th term is 26 and the 30th term is 83. Find the 50th term.
30 In an arithmetic sequence, 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?
b Find the sum of all the terms of the sequence.
31 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.
b Find the sum of the first 18 terms.
32 An arithmetic sequence has u 10 = 16 and u 30 = 156.
a Find the value of u 50.
20

b Find ∑u . r
r =1
16

33 Find ∑(5−r3).
r =1
34 Three consecutive terms of an arithmetic sequence are 3x + 1, 2x + 1, 4x − 5. Find the value of x.
35 The fifth term of an arithmetic sequence is double the second term, and the seventh term of the sequence is 28.
Find the 11th term.
36 The sum of the first three terms of an arithmetic sequence equal the tenth term, and the seventh term of the
sequence is 27. Find the 12th term.
32 2 Core: Sequences

20

= u+n4 . If u 1 = 10 find
37 A sequence is defined by u n +1 ∑u . r
r =1
38 a The arithmetic sequence U has first term 7, common difference 12 and last term 139. Find the sum of terms in U.
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.
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.
39 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.
40 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.
41 The first three terms of an arithmetic sequence are 1, a, 3a + 5. Evaluate the fourth term of the sequence.
42 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?
43 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.
44 The sum of the first n terms of an arithmetic sequence is denoted by S n. Given that S n nn = 2+ ,2
a find the first two terms of the sequence
b hence find the 50th term.
45 The sum of the first n terms of a sequence is given by S n nn = +2 . Find
4 an expression for the nth term of the
sequence.
46 The ninth term of an arithmetic sequence is four times as large than the third term. Find the value of the first
term.
47 What is the sum of all three-digit multiples of 7?
48 What is the sum of all whole numbers from 0 up to (and including) 100 which are multiples of 5 but not multiples
of 3.
49 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.
50 The first four terms of an arithmetic sequence are 4, a, b, a − b. Find the sixth term.
51 a A sequence has formula u n = a+ nd
. Prove that there is a constant different between consecutive terms of the
sequence.
b A sequence has formula u n = an 2bn
+ . Prove that the differences between consecutive terms forms an
arithmetic sequence.
52 Alessia writes down a list of the first n positive integers in order.
a Show that by the time she has written down the number 19 she has written down 29 digits.
b Her final list contains a total of 342 digits. What was the largest number in her list?