Chapter 1 – Sequence and Series

1.1 Arithmetic Sequences

Sequence – a mathematical pattern
Ex. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9,…
2, 4, 8, 16,…
1 ,2 , 3 , 4 ,…
2 2 2 2

An arithmetic sequence is a pattern where each term is separated a common

number
Examples of arithmetic sequences:
3 5 7
9, 7, 5, 3, 1,… −11,−4, 3, 10…
2, 2, 2, …

An arithmetic sequence can be represented by t n=a+ ( n−1 ) d

where tn is the term (value at position n)

n is the number of terms (or position of the last term)
a is the value of the first term
d is the common difference (the difference between any two
consecutive terms)
l is the last term (can be represented using t n)

Ex. Find the common difference

a. -11, -7, -3, … b. 3 x ,−2 x ,−7 x , …

d=t 2−t 1 d=t 2−t 1

d=−7− (−11 )=4 d=−2 x− (3 x )=−5 x
or or
d=t 3−t 2 d=t 3−t 2
d=−3−(−7 )=4 d=−7 x−(−2 x ) =−5 x

c. 3 x , ¿−7 x d. 5 √ 2, ___ , ___ , 20 √ 2

t 3−t 1=t 3 −t 1 t 4−t 1=t 4 −t 1
2 d=−7 x−3 x 3 d=20 √ 2−5 √ 2
2 d=−10 x 3 d=15 √ 2
d=−5 x d=5 √ 2
Ex. Find the 12th term of the arithmetic sequence −10, −7, −4, …
n=12 d=−7− (−10 )=3 a=−10

t n=a+ ( n−1 ) d
t 12=−10+ ( 12−1 ) ( 3 )
t 12=−10+11 ( 3 )
t 12=23

Ex. Determine which term in the arithmetic sequence 4, 7, 10, … has a value of
451?
a=4 d=3 n=? t n=451

t n=a+ ( n−1 ) d
451=4 + ( n−1 )( 3 )
447=3 ( n−1 )
149=n−1
n=150
∴ The 150th term is 451

Ex. The 7th term of an arithmetic sequence is 78, and the 18th term is 45.
Determine the second term.

t 7=78 t 18=45
t 7=a+ ( 7−1 ) d t 18=a+17 d
t 7=a+ 6 d

a+ 6 d=78 a+ 17 d=45
a+ 6 d=78
−¿( a+ 17 d=45 )
--------------------------
−11d=33
d=−3
a+ 6 (−3 )=78
a−18=78
a=96
t 2=96−3=93
∴The second term is 93
An alternative solution to the question above:
t 7=78 t 7=a+ ( 7−1 ) d=a+6 d
t 18=45 t 18=a+ ( 18−1 ) d=a+17 d
 t 18−t 7 =t 18−t 7
( a+ 17 d )−( a+ 6 d )=45−78
11d=−33
d=−3
78=a+ ( 7−1 ) (−3 )
78=a−18
a=96
∴ t 2 =96−3=93

Ex. Find x so that 3 x+ 2, 2 x−3, and 2−4 x are consecutive terms of an arithmetic
sequence.

Using an idea similar to the question above, the difference between any two
consecutive terms is the common difference:
d=t 2−t 1 d=t 3−t 2

Which means the d for both are equal to each other.

t 2−t 1=t 3 −t 2
2 x−3− (3 x +2 )=2−4 x−( 2 x−3 )
−x−5=−6 x+ 5
5 x=10
x=2

Checking the answer:

3 ( 2 ) +2, 2 ( 2 )−3, and 2−4 ( 2 )
6+ 2, 4−3 , 2−8
8 , 1 ,−6

1.1 Homework
# 7-11 (bcf), 12, 15, 16, 19

1.2 Arithmetic Series

Sigma Notation
This notation is used to find the sum of series of consecutive terms, where t k
is used to find the terms.
 n

∑ t k =t1 +t 2+t 3 +…+t n

k =1

The sum of the terms from position k to position n

tk the value at position k (general term)

k the starting position
n the ending position
n−k +1 is the number of terms

Ex. Determine the sum.

28

∑9
k=4

¿ 9+ 9+9+…+ 9 this occurs 28−4+ 1=25 times

¿ 25 ×9
¿ 225

Ex. Determine the sum.

7

∑ (7 k−70 )
k =1

t n=7 n−70
t 1=7 ( 1 )−70=−63 first term
t 2=7 ( 2 )−70=−56 second term
t 7=7 ( 7 )−70=−21 last term

S7=−63−56−49−42−35−28−21
S7=−294

Ex. Write the sigma notation for the following series: 7+11+15+…+63
a=7 d=4 t n=63

Use the general term t n to find n.

t n=a+ ( n−1 ) d
63=7+ ( n−1 ) ( 4 )
56=4 ( n−1 )
 14=n−1
n=15

Find the simplified expression for t n:

t n=a+ ( n−1 ) d
t n=7+ ( n−1 ) ( 4 )
t n=7+ 4 n−4
t n=4 n+3
15

∑ ( 4 k + 3)
k =1

Ex. Write 5+9+ 13+…+137 in sigma notation

a=5 d=4 t n=137
t n=a+ ( n−1 ) d
137=5+ ( n−1 )( 4 )
132=4 ( n−1 )
33=n−1
n=34

The simplified expression for t n:

t n=a+ ( n−1 ) d
t n=5+ ( n−1 ) ( 4 )
t n=5+ 4 n−4
t n=4 n+1
34

∑ ( 4 k + 1)
k =1

Arithmetic Series
Sn is the sum of the first n terms Sn=t 1 +t 2+t 3 +…+t n

The sum can be found with the following forumlas:

n n
Sn= ( 2 a+ ( n−1 ) d ) Sn= ( a+l )
2 2

where n is the number of terms (position of last term)

 a is the value of the first term
d is common difference
l is the value of the last term

Ex. Find the sum of the integers from 1 to 72

1, 2, 3, …, 72 sequence
1+2+3+…+72 series
S72=? n=72 a=1 d=1 l=72

72
S72=
2
( 2 ( 1 ) + ( ( 72 )−1 ) ( 1 ) )
S72=36 ( 73 )
S72=2628

72
S72= ( 1+72 )
2
S72=36 ( 73 )
s72=2628

Ex. Find the sum of all the multiples of 5 from 1 to 824

5 + 10 + 15 + … + 820

a=5 d=5 n=? l=820

t n=a+ ( n−1 ) d
820=5+ ( n−1 )( 5 )
164=1+n−1
n=164

164
S164 = ( 5+820 )
2
S164 =82 ( 825 )=67650
Ex. Find the sum of the following series 7+10+ 13+…+100
a=7 d=3 l=100 n=?

t n=a+ ( n−1 ) d
100=7+ ( n−1 )( 3 )
93=3 ( n−1 )
31=n−1
 n=32

32
S32= ( 7+100 )
2
S32=16 ( 107 )
s32=1712

Ex. The sum of the first n terms of an arithmetic sequence is Sn=5 n2−3 n. Find the
common difference.
2
S1=5 ( 1 ) −3 ( 1 )=2 S1=t 1
t 1=2

2
S2=5 ( 2 ) −3 ( 2 ) =14 S2=t 1 +t 2
14=2+t 2
t 2=12
2 , 12, …

d=12−2=10

Ex. Find two arithmetic means between 8 and 29.

8 ,¿ 29
t 1=a

t 4=a+3 d
29=8+3 d
3 d=21
d=7
t 2=15
t 3=22

34

Ex. Determine the sum of: ∑ ( 4 k + 1 )

k =5

a=4 ( 5 ) +1=21
l=4 ( 34 )+ 1=137
Number of terms ¿ 34−5+1=30
 30
S30= ( 21+137 )=2370
2

∑ (5 k+ 83 )=1386
Ex. Determine n if k =1

a=5 ( 1 ) +83=88 l=5 n+ 83

# of terms ¿ n

n
Sn= ( a+l )
2

n
1386= ( 88+5 n+ 83 )
2

2772=n (5 n+ 171 )

2
2772=5 n +171 n

2
0=5 n +171 n−2772

−171 ± √ 1712 −4 ( 5 )(−2772 )

n=
2 ( 5)

−231
n=
5
, 12 reject the negative

n=12

Ex. The sum of the first 12 terms of an arithmetic series is 246, while the sum of
the first 16 terms equals to 424. Determine the sum of the first 8 terms.
S12=246 S16=424

n
Sub both of these into Sn= 2 ( 2 a+ ( n−1 ) d )

12 16
246= ( 2 a+11d ) 424= ( 2 a+15 d )
2 2
246=6 ( 2 a+11d ) 424=8 (2 a+ 15 d )

41=2 a+11d 53=2 a+15 d

1.2 Homework
# 1-2 bcf…, 3-7, 9, 11, 12, 14
1.3 Geometric Sequence

Similar to arithmetic sequence, geometric sequence is a pattern of numbers.

2, 4, 6, 8, … arithmetic sequence, common difference of 2

d=t 2−t 1 d=t n−t n−1

2, 4, 8, 16, … geometric sequence, common ratio of 2

t2 tn
r= r= r≠0
t1 t n−1
Geometric Sequence

The terms in a geometric sequence can be given by:

n−1
t n=a r

tn is the value at position n

a is the value of the first term
r common ratio Note: r≠0
n the number of terms / ending position

Ex. Given t n=3 ( 2 )n−1, determine the 6th term.

6−1
t 6=3 ( 2 )

5
t 6=3 ( 2 ) =3 ( 32 )

t 6=96

Ex. Determine the 12th term of the geometric sequence 18, 54, 162, …

t 2 54
a=18 n=12 r = = =3
t 1 18
n−1
t n=a r
12−1
t 12=18 (3 )
t 12=3188646

The 12th term in the geometric sequence is 3188646.

125
Ex. The 4th term of a geometric sequence is 125, and the 9th term is 32 .
Determine the 13th term.
125
t 4=125 t 9=
32
4−1 9−1
t 4=a r t 9=a r
3 8
t 4=a r t 9=a r

8 125
∴ a r =125
3
∴ar =
32
 8 125
ar =
32
125
a r (r )=
3 5
32
5 125
125 r =
32
5 1
r=
32
1
r=
2

()
3
1
a =125
2
a
1
8 ()
=125
a=1000

()
13−1
1
t 13=1000
2
125
t 13=
512

Ex. Determine the value of x , if x , 2 x+ 2, 3 x+ 3 form a geometric sequence.

t2 t3
r= r=
t1 t2

2 x+ 2 3 x +3
r= r=
x 2 x +2

2 x +2 3 x +3
∴ =
x 2 x +2

( 2 x+ 2 )( 2 x+ 2 )=x (3 x +3 )
 2 2
4 x +8 x +4=3 x +3 x

2
x + 5 x + 4=0

( x +1 ) ( x + 4 ) =0

x=−1 ,−4

Check: x=−1
t 1=−1
t 2=2 (−1 )+ 2=0
t 3=3 (−1 ) +3=0

So, r =0 when x=−1

Since r cannot equal to 0, reject x=−1

x=−4
t 1=−4
t 2=2 (−4 )+ 2=−6
t 3=3 (−4 ) +3=−9

3
So, r = 2 when x=−4

∴ x=−4

Ex. If the product of the first three terms of a geometric sequence is −8, and the
14
sum is 3 , what is the common ratio of the sequence?

2
a ⋅ ar ⋅ a r =−8
3 3
a r =−8
ar =−2
−2
a=
r

2 14
a+ ar +a r =
3
 −2 14
+ (−2 )+(−2 r )=
r 3
−2 14
−2−2 r=
r 3
2
−6−6 r−6 r =14 r
2
0=6 r +20 r +6
2
0=3 r + 10 r+ 3
0=( 3 r +1 ) ( r+ 3 )
1
r =−3 ,−
3

1.3 Homework
# 1-4 bcf…, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 18, 201
1.4 Geometric Series

Geometric series is the sum of the terms in a geometric sequence.

The sum can be found using the following formulas:

a ( 1−r n ) a−a r
n
Sn =
a−rl
Sn = Sn =
1−r 1−r 1−r

where Sn is the sum of the first n terms t 1+ t 2 +…+t n

r is the common ratio
 n is the number of terms
a is the first term
l is the last term (could be represented using t n)

Additionally, a geometric series can be written as:

2 n−1
Sn=a+ar + a r +…+a r

Ex. Find the sum of the geometric series 2+6+18+ 54+…+ 1458

6
a=2 r = =3 l=1458
2

a−rl
Sn =
1−r
2−3 (1458 )
Sn =
1−3
Sn=2186

Ex. Find the sum of the first 12 terms of the geometric series 1+7+ 49+…

a=1 r =7 n=12

a ( 1−r n )
Sn =
1−r

1 ( 1−712 )
S12=
1−7

S12=2306881200

Ex. Find the sum of the geometric series

10

∑ 3 (−2 )k−1
k =1

3+ (−6 ) + (−9 ) +…+ (−512 )

a=3 t 2=−6 r =−2 n=10−1+1=10

3 ( 1−(−2 )10)
S10=
1−(−2 )
 S10=−1023

Ex. Write the following series, 2+6+18+ 54+162+ 486, using sigma notation with the
index k =1.

n=6 a=2 r =3
6

∑ 2 ( 3 ) k−1
k =1

Ex. Terry Fox decided to walk 120 km by walking 40% of the distance remaining
each day. How far does he have remaining to walk after 6 days of walking?

Determining the amount of distance left after 6 days will help find the
distance travelled. If Terry Fox walks 40% of the remaining distance,
suggesting 60% is leftover.
t 1=120 ⋅0.6=72 after 1 day, there is 72 km left
t 2=72⋅ 0.6=43.2 after 2 days, there is 43.2 km left
t 3=43.2 ⋅0.6=25.92 after 3 days, there is 25.92 km left
5
t 6=72 ( 0.6 ) =5.59872 after 6 days, there is 5.59872 km left

Distance travelled ¿ 120−5.6=114.4 km

Ex. For a geometric sequence, the sum of the first 3 term is −9, while the sum of
the next 3 terms is 72. Determine first term and common ratio.

t 1+ t 2 +t 3=−9 t 4 +t 5+ t 6 =72

Too many variables! Need to write with variables common to both…

Use a and r !
t 1+ t 2 +t 3=−9
a+ ar +a r =−9
2
(1)

t 4 +t 5+ t 6 =72
3 4
a r + a r +a r =72
5
(2)
 From (2), a common factor can be factored out.
r 3 ( a+ ar +a r 2 ) =72

Since the value of a+ ar +a r 2 is equal to −9 from (1), substitute it into (2).

3
r (−9 ) =72

Now, solve for r .

3
r =−8
r =−2

Next, substitute r =−2 into (1) to solve for a.

2
a+ a (−2 ) +a (−2 ) =−9
a−2 a+ 4 a=−9
3 a=−9
a=−3

∴ The first term is −3 while the common ratio is −2.

Ex. A ball bounces up 80% of the distance from which it falls. How far does the
ball travel in total after hitting the floor the 6th time, if it was dropped from a
height of 20 m?

The ball travels a distance down and rebounds at 80% of the previous
dropped distance. The original drop distance is 20 m.
4
a=20 r =80 %=0.8 or 5 sub these into t n

n−1
∴ t n=20 ( 0.8 )

The distanced travelled down and up are almost the same, except the
down distance is greater because of the initial drop.

Drop distance:
20+16+ 12.8+…+t 6

6
 6
1−0.8 625

To find total distance travelled, first find the drop distance and double
it, then subtract the initial drop.
Total Distance ¿ 2 S 6−20
¿ 2 ( 73.8 )−20
¿ 127.6 m
∴ the total distance travelled was 127.6 m.

1.4 Homework
# 1 bcf…, 2bc, 3 bcf…, 5, 7, 9, 13, 16, 17, 19
1.5 Infinite Geometric Series

2 ,−6 ,18 ,−54 , 162 ,…

this series is called a divergent series because it does not converge to a value

10 , 5 ,2.5 , 1.25 , 0.625 , …

this series is called a convergent series because it does converge to a value

(converges to 0)

Condition for divergent series: |r|>1 → r ←1, r >1

Condition for convergent series: |r|<1 → −1<r <1

It is not possible to determine the exact value of divergent infinite series.

2−6+18−54 +162+…=∞∨−∞
 2+6+18+ 54+162+…=∞

−2−6−18−54−162−…=−∞

However, it is possible to determine the exact value of infinite convergent

series. The sum of a convergent infinite series is found by using the regular
sum formula.
a ( 1−r n )
Sn =
1−r

For an infinite sum, the number of terms is infinity, so n=∞.

a ( 1−r ∞ )
S∞ =
1−r

()
20
1
∞
r =0 for example 2
≈0

a
∴ S ∞=
1−r

Ex. Determine the sum of the infinite geometric series

3 3 3
+ + +…
8 16 32

∴ this series converges

3
16 1
r= =
3 2
8

3
8
S∞ =
1
1−
2
3
8 3
S∞ = =
1 4
2

Ex. Find the sum of the infinite geometric series

 ( )
∞ k−1
∑ 6 −2
3
k =2

∴ this series will converge

−2
a=−4 r=
3

−4
S∞ =
1−( )
−2
3

−4
S∞ = 12
5 ¿−
5
3

Ex. Initially a pendulum swings through an arc of 20 cm. On each successive

swing friction lessens the length of the pendulum swing by 5%. When the
pendulum stops, what total length will the pendulum have swung?

a=20 r =0.95 t 2=20 ⋅0.95=19 n=∞

20 20
S∞ = = =400
1−0.95 0.05

The pendulum swung a total of 400 cm before coming to a rest

1
Ex. A ball is dropped from a height of 17 ft and rebounds 2 of the distance from
which it fell. Find the total distance the ball travels before coming to a rest.

Blue goes downwards

Red goes upwards
 d=¿ initial drop + 2 times sum of the upward distances
d=17+2 ( S ∞ )

d=17+2 ( 1−0.5
8.5
)
d=17+2 (
0.5 )
8.5

d=17+34
d=51 ft

3
Ex. A 8 cm nail is hammered 3 cm into a board on the first hit, and 5 of the
preceding distance on the next hits. Determine the number of hits to
hammer the nail into the board.

3
a=3 r= n=? Sn=8
5

a ( 1−r n )
Sn =
1−r

( ( ))
n
3
3 1−
5
8=
3
1−
5

()
n
3
3−3
5
8=
2
5
1.5 Homework
# 2 bcf…, 3 bcf…, 5 bd, 7, 10, 11, 14, 15, 18, 20