Mathematics

Grade 10 • Unit 1: Arithmetic Sequences and Series

LESSON 1.4
Arithmetic Series
Table of Contents
Introduction 1

Test Your Prerequisite Skills 2

DepEd Competency 2

Objectives 3

Warm-Up! 3

Learn about It! 4

Let’s Practice 8

Check Your Understanding 12

Key Points 13

Bibliography 14
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Grade 10 • Unit 1: Arithmetic Sequences and Series

Lesson 1.4
Arithmetic Series

Fig. 1. Theater seats

Introduction
Let us say that you are in a theater. You noticed that there are 15 seats in the first row, 16 on
the second row, 17 on the third row, and so on, until the last row. How would you know the
number of chairs there are? We can easily determine the number of chairs by using arithmetic
series.

In this lesson, we will discuss arithmetic series and its applications.

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Grade 10 • Unit 1: Arithmetic Sequences and Series

Test Your Prerequisite Skills

Before you get started, answer the following items on a separate sheet of paper. This will help
you assess your prior knowledge and practice some skills that you will need in studying this
lesson. Show your complete solution.

1. Determine the next three terms of the following sequences.

a. 10, 13, 16, 19, …
b. 15, 12, 9, 6, …
c. 𝑥 + 3, 2𝑥 + 5, 3𝑥 + 7, …
d. 3𝑥 + 6, 5𝑥 + 5, 7𝑥 + 4, …

2. Perform the indicated operations.

a. 2 + 5 + 8 + 11 + 14
b. 8 + 13 + 18 + 23 + 28 + 32
c. (5𝑥 − 2) + (6𝑥 − 1) + (7𝑥) + (8𝑥 + 1)

DepEd Competency
At the end of the lesson, the learners should be able to determine arithmetic
means, 𝑛th term of an arithmetic sequence and sum of the terms of a given
arithmetic sequence.

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Grade 10 • Unit 1: Arithmetic Sequences and Series

Objectives
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to do the following:

● Differentiate an arithmetic series from arithmetic sequence.

● Solve for the sum of the first 𝑛 terms of an arithmetic sequence.

● Solve real-life problems involving arithmetic series.

Warm-Up!

Christmas Wish List

Materials
● speaker and music player
● paper
● pen

Instructions
1. This activity will be done individually.
2. Your teacher will play the song “12 Days of Christmas.” While listening, take note of
the gifts given from the first to the last day.
3. Prepare a wish list of the gifts you want to receive 12 days before Christmas.
4. After writing your list, count the number of items you want to receive.
5. Suppose that your wish list is for 15 days instead of 12. How many gifts will you
receive then?
6. Be ready with your wish list and findings since your teacher will ask for volunteers to
present their wish list in front of the class.

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Grade 10 • Unit 1: Arithmetic Sequences and Series

Learn about It!

Classroom activities may spark inspiration to students, especially to those who study
Mathematics. One anecdote about a famous mathematician paved the way to the in-depth
study of sequences and its sum.

The German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855), when asked

by his teacher to find the sum of all integers from 1 to 100, was able to
quickly perform this task at a very young age. While his classmates were
manually adding 1, 2, 3, …, Gauss was quick to notice a curious pattern.
First, he imagined that the numbers can be grouped into pairs like this:

Notice that the first term 1 and the last term 100 have a sum of 101. The same is true for all
100
other pairs of terms in the sequence (2 and 99, 3 and 98, and so on). Since there are 2
= 50

pairs which all produce a sum of 101, the sum of all integers from 1 to 100 must be equal to
50 × 101 = 5 050.

Essential Question
How will you determine the necessary variables needed to solve for the first
𝑛 terms of an arithmetic series?

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Grade 10 • Unit 1: Arithmetic Sequences and Series

Arithmetic Series

Definition 3.1: The sum of the first 𝑛 terms of an arithmetic sequence is

known as an arithmetic series which is written as

𝑆𝑛 = 𝑎1 + 𝑎2 + ⋯ + 𝑎𝑛 .
.

Gauss’ method of calculating the sum of the integers from 1 to 100 may be used to derive the
formula for the sum of any finite arithmetic series. Let us try repeating the procedure for an
arbitrary series 𝑎1 + 𝑎2 + 𝑎3 + ⋯ + 𝑎𝑛 . Note that the first term of this series is 𝑎1 , its 𝑛th term
is 𝑎𝑛 , and its common difference is 𝑑.

Gauss’ method is explained explicitly in the steps below.

1. Write the terms of the series in a single row of a table.

𝑎1 𝑎2 𝑎3 … 𝑎𝑛

2. Repeat the same terms in another row below the first one but write them in reverse
order so that the 𝑛th term comes first.

𝑎1 𝑎2 𝑎3 … 𝑎𝑛

𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑛−1 𝑎𝑛−2 … 𝑎1

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Grade 10 • Unit 1: Arithmetic Sequences and Series

3. Rewrite all the terms of the series (except for 𝑎1 and 𝑎𝑛 ) as follows:

𝑎2 = 𝑎1 + 𝑑
𝑎3 = 𝑎1 + 2𝑑
𝑎4 = 𝑎1 + 3𝑑
.
.
.
𝑎𝑛−3 = 𝑎𝑛 − 3𝑑
𝑎𝑛−2 = 𝑎𝑛 − 2𝑑
𝑎𝑛−1 = 𝑎𝑛 − 𝑑

The next table contains the rewritten entries.

𝑎1 𝑎1 + 𝑑 𝑎1 + 2𝑑 … 𝑎𝑛

𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑛 − 𝑑 𝑎𝑛 − 2𝑑 … 𝑎1

4. Add the expressions in each column of the table.

𝑎1 𝑎1 + 𝑑 𝑎1 + 2𝑑 … 𝑎𝑛

𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑛 − 𝑑 𝑎𝑛 − 2𝑑 … 𝑎1

𝑎1 + 𝑎𝑛 𝑎1 + 𝑎𝑛 𝑎1 + 𝑎𝑛 … 𝑎1 + 𝑎𝑛

5. Add the sums obtained in each column. Each sum is equal to 𝑎1 + 𝑎𝑛 , and there are 𝑛
sums, so their total is simply 𝑛(𝑎1 + 𝑎𝑛 ).

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Grade 10 • Unit 1: Arithmetic Sequences and Series

6. The table contains two copies of the arithmetic series, which means that the sum
𝑛(𝑎1 + 𝑎𝑛 ) from the previous step is equal to twice the sum of all the terms. Therefore,
we divide by 2 to obtain the correct answer, which is

𝑛
𝑆𝑛 = (𝑎 + 𝑎𝑛 )
2 1

In cases where the last term 𝑎𝑛 is not readily given, we can simply replace the generated
formula in Step 6 with the formula for the general term of an arithmetic sequence, which is

𝑎𝑛 = 𝑎1 + (𝑛 − 1)𝑑.

Doing so allows us to simplify the formula into

𝑛
𝑆𝑛 = (𝑎 + 𝑎1 + (𝑛 − 1)𝑑)
2 1
𝑛
𝑆𝑛 = (2𝑎1 + (𝑛 − 1)𝑑)
2

where the second equation is the alternative formula for the arithmetic series.

Essential Question
How will you solve for the sum of the first 𝑛 terms of an arithmetic series?

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Grade 10 • Unit 1: Arithmetic Sequences and Series

Let’s Practice
Example 1
Find the sum of the terms of an arithmetic sequence given the following information:
a. 𝑎1 = 2, 𝑎𝑛 = 100, and 𝑛 = 50
b. 𝑎1 = 2, 𝑑 = 4, and 𝑛 = 10

Solution
a. Use the formula in finding the arithmetic series given the first term, the last term, and
the total number of terms.

𝑛
𝑆𝑛 = (𝑎 + 𝑎𝑛 )
2 1
50
𝑆𝑛 = (2 + 100)
2
𝑆𝑛 = 25(102)
𝑆𝑛 = 2 550

b. Use the other formula in finding the arithmetic series.

𝑛
𝑆𝑛 = [2𝑎1 + (𝑛 − 1)𝑑]
2
10
𝑆𝑛 = [2(2) + (10 − 1)4]
2
𝑆𝑛 = 5[4 + (9)4]
𝑆𝑛 = 5(40)
𝑆𝑛 = 200

Try It Yourself!
Find the arithmetic series given that 𝑎1 = 3, 𝑎𝑛 = 35, and 𝑛 = 6.

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Grade 10 • Unit 1: Arithmetic Sequences and Series

Example 2
Find the sum of the first 30 terms of the arithmetic sequence 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, ….

Solution
We use the following values in finding the arithmetic series: 𝑎1 = 1, 𝑑 = 2, and 𝑛 = 30.
Substituting the values into the formula, we get

𝑛
𝑆𝑛 = [2𝑎1 + (𝑛 − 1)𝑑]
2
30
𝑆𝑛 = [2(1) + (30 − 1)2]
2
𝑆𝑛 = 15[2 + (29)2]
𝑆𝑛 = 15(2 + 58)
𝑆𝑛 = 15(60)
𝑆𝑛 = 900

Try It Yourself!
Find the sum of the first 20 terms in the sequence 45, 60, 75, 90, …

Example 3
How many terms of the series 20 + 18 + 16 + ⋯ must be added so that the sum will be equal
to 0?

Solution
Since we are given the sequence which has no definite last term, we will use the formula

𝑛
𝑆𝑛 = [2𝑎1 + (𝑛 − 1)𝑑]
2

Substituting the values 𝑆𝑛 = 0, 𝑎1 = 20, and 𝑑 = −2 to find 𝑛, we get

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Grade 10 • Unit 1: Arithmetic Sequences and Series

𝑛
0= [2(20) + (𝑛 − 1)(−2)]
2
𝑛
0 = [40 + (𝑛 − 1)(−2)]
2
0 = 𝑛[40 + (−2𝑛 + 2)]
0 = 𝑛[−2𝑛 + 42]

By the zero-product property, we may solve the value of 𝑛 using 𝑛 = 0, or −2𝑛 + 42 = 0,

yielding 𝑛 = 0 or 𝑛 = 21.

Note that 𝑛 = 0 cannot be used as value for 𝑛. Thus, there must be 21 terms in the sequence
for its associated series to be equal to 0.

Try It Yourself!
How many terms of the series 2𝑥 + 6𝑥 + 10𝑥 + ⋯ must be added so that the sum will be
equal to 2 592𝑥?

Real-world Problems
Example 4
Suppose a concert is to be held in an auditorium that has
32 rows of seats. The auditorium has 17 seats in the first
row, and each row after the first has two more seats than
the row in front of it. If a VIP seat (rows 1–10), a premier seat
(rows 11–22), and a deluxe seat (rows 23–32) cost ₱500,
₱300, and ₱250, respectively, how much revenue should
the organizers expect from a sold-out event?

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Grade 10 • Unit 1: Arithmetic Sequences and Series

Solution
Step 1: Calculate the number of seats in each category. Substitute 𝑎1 = 17 and 𝑑 = 2
into the arithmetic formula:

𝑛
𝑆𝑛 = [2𝑎1 + (𝑛 − 1)𝑑]
2

a. VIP seats (rows 1– 10) can be computed using 𝑆10 .

10
𝑆10 = [2(17) + (10 − 1)2]
2
𝑆10 = 5(34 + 18)
𝑆10 = 260

b. Premier seats (rows 11 to 22) can be computed by 𝑆22 − 𝑆10.

22
𝑆22 − 𝑆10 = { [2(17) + (22 − 1)2]} − 260
2
𝑆22 − 𝑆10 = 11(34 + 42) − 260
𝑆22 − 𝑆10 = 836 − 260
𝑆22 − 𝑆10 = 576

c. Deluxe seats (rows 23 to 32) can be computed by

32
𝑆32 − 𝑆22 = { [2(17) + (32 − 1)2]} − 836
2
𝑆32 − 𝑆22 = 16(34 + 62) − 836
𝑆32 − 𝑆22 = 1 536 − 836
𝑆32 − 𝑆22 = 700

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Grade 10 • Unit 1: Arithmetic Sequences and Series

Step 2: Calculate the revenue based on the number of seats.

Category Number of Price Revenue

Seats

VIP 260 ₱500 ₱130 000

PREMIER 576 ₱300 ₱172 800

DELUXE 700 ₱250 ₱175 000

TOTAL ₱477 800

Therefore, the total revenue for a sold-out event is ₱477 800.

Try It Yourself!
Suppose that the concert in Example 4 was not a sold-out
event. The turnout of the occupied seats was only the first
three rows of the VIP seats and all the deluxe seats. How
much will the organizers earn?

Check Your Understanding

1. Find the sum of the first 𝑛 terms in an arithmetic sequence if:
a. 𝑎1 = 3, 𝑑 = −5, and 𝑛 = 5
b. 𝑎1 = 2, 𝑑 = −3, and 𝑛 = 7
c. 𝑎1 = −4, 𝑑 = 4, and 𝑛 = 10

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Grade 10 • Unit 1: Arithmetic Sequences and Series

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d. 𝑎1 = 3, 𝑑 = 2, and 𝑛 = 8
5
e. 𝑎1 = , 𝑑 = 11, and 𝑛 = 5
8

2. Answer the following.

a. Find the sum of the first eight terms of the arithmetic series 5 + 7 + 9 + ⋯.
b. Find the sum of the integers 1 to 50 inclusive.
c. Find the sum of the odd integers 1 to 99 inclusive.

3. A blacksmith offered to shoe a horse for ₱3 on the first nail and ₱2 per succeeding
nail. If there are seven nails in a horseshoe, how much would it cost to shoe a horse?

Key Points

● An arithmetic series refers to the sum of the first 𝑛 terms of an arithmetic sequence,
written as 𝑆𝑛 = 𝑎1 + 𝑎2 + 𝑎3 + ⋯ + 𝑎𝑛
● The sum of the first 𝑛 terms of an arithmetic sequence 𝑎1 + 𝑎2 + ⋯ + 𝑎𝑛 can be
solved using the following formula:
𝑛
○ 𝑆𝑛 = 2 (𝑎1 + 𝑎𝑛 )
𝑛
○ 𝑆𝑛 = 2 [2𝑎1 + (𝑛 − 1)𝑑]

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Grade 10 • Unit 1: Arithmetic Sequences and Series

Bibliography
Math Is Fun. “Sequences and Series.” Accessed March 26, 2018.
https://www.mathsisfun.com/algebra/sequences-series.html

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