SEQUENCES
AND SERIES
SEQUENCES
is a set of numbers whose elements called terms, are the
range of the function .
The domain of is the set of natural numbers.
The order of each term of a sequence corresponds to
the value of .
𝑓 ( 𝑛 )=3 𝑛− 2
𝑎 1= 𝑓 ( 1 )= 3(1)− 2 𝑎 4 = 𝑓 ( 4 )= 3( 4) −2
𝑎 1= 𝑓 ( 1 ) = 1 𝑎 4 = 𝑓 ( 4 ) = 10
𝑎 2= 𝑓 ( 2 ) =3( 2) −2 ..
.
𝑎 2= 𝑓 ( 2 ) = 4
𝑎 𝑛 = 𝑓 (𝑛 )=3 𝑛 − 2
𝑎 3= 𝑓 ( 3 )= 3(3) −2
𝑎 3= 𝑓 ( 3 ) =7
2
𝑓 ( 𝑛 )=𝑛 +6 𝑛+ 9
1. Determine the sequence {by 2. Determine the term.
listing the first five terms
2
𝑎 = 𝑓 ( 1 ) = 16 ( )
𝑎 15 = 𝑓 15 =(15 ) + 6(15)+ 9
1
𝑎 2= 𝑓 ( 2 ) =25 𝑎 15 = 𝑓 ( 15 ) =225+ 90+ 9
𝑎 3= 𝑓 ( 3 ) = 36
𝑎 15 = 𝑓 ( 15 ) =324
𝑎4 = 𝑓 ( 4 ) = 49
𝑎 5= 𝑓 ( 5 ) =64 ⸫ the term is 324.
𝑎𝑛 ={16 ,25 ,36 , 49 , 64 , …
SERIES
A series is the sum of terms of a given sequence. In
summation notation, is given by the equation
𝑓 ( 𝑛 )=3 𝑛− 2
{1, 4 , 7 , 10 }
2
𝑓 ( 𝑛 )=𝑛 +6 𝑛+ 9
1 90
𝑎 1= 𝑓 ( 1 ) = 16
𝑎 2= 𝑓 ( 2 ) =25
𝑎 3= 𝑓 ( 3 ) = 36
𝑎4 = 𝑓 ( 4 ) = 49
𝑎 5= 𝑓 ( 5 ) =64
2
TRY THIS! 𝑓 ( 𝑛 )= 2𝑛 − 3𝑛
𝑎 3= 𝑓 ( 39
)= ¿ 𝑆 4 =¿
30
𝑎 22 = 𝑓 ( 22902
) =¿ 𝑆 11= ¿
814
ARITHMETIC SEQUENCE
A sequence wherein the difference of every pair of
consecutive terms is constant.
The constant is referred to as the common difference,
denoted by d.
Examples:
{3, 8, 13, 18, 23, 28} - arithmetic sequence
{100, 91, 82, 73, 64, …} - arithmetic sequence
{1, 12, 123, 1234, …} - not arithmetic sequence
{10, 17.5, 25, 32.5, …} - arithmetic sequence
{1, 5, 8, 11, 13, …} - not arithmetic sequence
Formula for the nth term of an Arithmetic Sequence
𝑎 𝑛 =𝑎 1+ ( 𝑛− 1 ) 𝑑
Examples:
Given the arithmetic sequence {9, 21,33,45, …}, find the
100th and 200th terms of the sequence
𝑑=12
𝑎 100 =9+ ( 100 − 1 ) 12
𝑎 100 =9+ ( 99 ) 12
𝑎 100 =9+ 1188
𝑎 100 =1197
Formula for the nth term of an Arithmetic Sequence
𝑎 𝑛 =𝑎 1+ ( 𝑛− 1 ) 𝑑
Examples:
Given the arithmetic sequence {9, 21,33,45, …}, find the
100th and 200th terms of the sequence
𝑑=12
𝑎 200 = 9+ ( 200 − 1 ) 12
𝑎 200 =2397
Formula for the nth term of an Arithmetic Sequence
𝑎 𝑛 =𝑎 1+ ( 𝑛− 1 ) 𝑑
Examples:
Given the arithmetic sequence {3, 8, 13, 18, 23, …},
find the 80th and 99th terms of the sequence
𝑑=5
𝑎 80 = 398
𝑎 99 = 493
Formula for the nth term of an Arithmetic Sequence
𝑎 𝑛 =𝑎 1+ ( 𝑛− 1 ) 𝑑
Examples:
Given the 1st and 99th terms of an arithmetic sequences as
3 and 493, respectively, find the common difference d.
𝑎 𝑛 =𝑎 1+ ( 𝑛− 1 ) 𝑑 4___
90=98 𝑑
___
𝑎 99 = 𝑎1 + ( 99− 1 ) 𝑑 9 8 98
5= 𝑑
493=3+98 𝑑
493 −3=98 𝑑
Formula for the nth term of an Arithmetic Sequence
𝑎 𝑛 =𝑎 1+ ( 𝑛− 1 ) 𝑑
Examples:
Given the 1st and 85th terms of an arithmetic sequences as
11 and 515, respectively, find the common difference d.
𝑎 𝑛 =𝑎 1+ ( 𝑛− 1 ) 𝑑 504=84
___ 𝑑
___
𝑎 85 = 𝑎1 + ( 85− 1 ) 𝑑 84 84
515=11+ 84 𝑑 6=𝑑
515 −11=84 𝑑
ARITHMETIC SERIES
Sum of the terms in an arithmetic sequence.
Example:
Given the 1st and 20th terms of an arithmetic sequences as
7 and 102, respectively, find
( 𝑎1 + 𝑎𝑛 ) 𝑛
𝑆 𝑛=
2
( 7 + 102 ) 20
𝑆 20 =
2
𝑆 20 =1090
Example:
Given the 1st and 85th terms of an arithmetic sequences as
11 and 515, respectively, find
( 𝑎1 + 𝑎𝑛 ) 𝑛
𝑆 𝑛=
2
( 11+ 515 ) 85
𝑆 85 =
2
𝑆 85 =22 , 355
Example:
Given the 1st and 99th terms of an arithmetic sequences as
3 and 493, respectively, find
( 𝑎1 + 𝑎𝑛 ) 𝑛
𝑆 𝑛=
2
( 3 + 4 93 ) 99
𝑆 99 =
2
𝑆 99 = 24,552
Example:
The sum of the first 85 terms of an arithmetic sequence is 22,355. If the
first term of the sequence is 11, find the common difference.
[ 2 𝑎1 + ( 𝑛 − 1 ) 𝑑 ] 𝑛
5 26 =22 + 84 𝑑
𝑆 𝑛=
2
526
[ 2 (11)+ ( 85 − 1 ) 𝑑 ] 85 − 22=84 𝑑
22,355 =
2 504 = 84 𝑑
[ 22 +84 𝑑 ] 85
2,355 =
2
6 = 𝑑
2,355 = ( 22 + 84 𝑑 ) 42.5
Example:
The sum of the first 30 terms of an arithmetic sequence is 2,130. If the
first term of the sequence is 13, find the common difference.
[ 2 𝑎1 + ( 𝑛 − 1 ) 𝑑 ] 𝑛
142= 26 + 29 𝑑
𝑆 𝑛=
2
142
[ 2 (13 )+ ( 30 − 1 ) 𝑑 ] 30 − 26 =29 𝑑
2130 =
2 116 = 29 𝑑
[ 26 + 29 𝑑 ] 30
130 =
2
4 = 𝑑
130 = ( 26 +29 𝑑 ) 15
GEOMETRIC SEQUENCE
A sequence wherein the ratio of every pair of
consecutive terms is constant.
The constant is referred to as the common ratio,
denoted by r, where
The first term cannot take the value of zero
Examples:
{3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96, …} - geometric sequence
{800, 400, 200, 100, …} - geometric sequence
{2, -6, 18, -54, 162 …} - geometric sequence
{1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, …} - not geometric sequence
{1, 3, 5, 7, 9, …} - not geometric sequence
Formula for the nth term of an Geometric Sequence
𝑛 −1
𝑎 𝑛 =𝑎 1 ∙ 𝑟
Examples:
Given the geometric sequence {2, 4, 8, 16, …}, find the
20th and 30th terms of the sequence
𝑟 =2
20 −1
𝑎 20 = 2∙ 2
𝑎 20 =2(524 , 288)
𝑎 20 =1,048,576
Formula for the nth term of an Geometric Sequence
𝑛 −1
𝑎 𝑛 =𝑎 1 ∙ 𝑟
Examples:
Given the geometric sequence {2, 4, 8, 16, …}, find the
20th and 30th terms of the sequence
𝑟 =2
30 −1
𝑎 30 = 2∙ 2
𝑎 30 = 2(536,870,912)
𝑎 30 =1,073,741,824
Formula for the nth term of an Geometric Sequence
𝑛 −1
𝑎 𝑛 =𝑎 1 ∙ 𝑟
Examples:
Find the 10th term of the geometric sequence whose
first term is 4 and the common ratio is 3.
10 −1
𝑎 10 = 4 ∙ 3
𝑎 10 =78,732
Formula for the nth term of an Geometric Sequence
𝑛 −1
𝑎 𝑛 =𝑎 1 ∙ 𝑟
Examples:
Find the first term of the geometric sequence whose
20th term is 1,572,864 and the common ratio is 2.
20− 1
1,572,864= 𝑎1 ∙2
1,572,864=𝑎1 (524,288)
Formula for the nth term of an Geometric Sequence
𝑛 −1
𝑎 𝑛 =𝑎 1 ∙ 𝑟
Examples:
Given the 1st and 10th term of a geometric sequence as
5 and -98,415 respectively. Find the common ratio r.
10 − 1
𝑎 10 = 𝑎1 ∙𝑟
9
− 98415= 5∙ 𝑟
9
−19683=𝑟
√ −19683=𝑟
9
−3=𝑟
GEOMETRIC SERIES
Sum of the terms in a geometric sequence.
, where
Example:
Given the geometric sequence where , find
𝑛
𝑎1 (1 − 𝑟 )
𝑆 𝑛=
1 −𝑟
10
7 (1 − 4 )
𝑆 10 =
1−4
𝑆 10 =2,446,675
Example:
Find the sum of the first 12 terms of the sequence {6, -12,
24, -48, 96, ...}
𝑎 1 =6
𝑟 =− 2
𝑛
𝑎1 (1 − 𝑟 )
𝑆 𝑛=
1 −𝑟
𝑆 12 =6 ¿ ¿
𝑆 12 =− 8,190
Example:
Find the sum of the first 10 terms of the sequence
{256, 384, 576, 864, ...}
10
𝑎 1=256 3
256 (1 − )
2
𝑆 1 0=
3
3 1−
𝑟 = 2
2
𝑛
𝑎1 (1 − 𝑟 )
𝑆 𝑛= 𝑆 1 0 =29,012.5
1 −𝑟
FIBONACCI SERIES
A sequence in which the next term after the
first two terms is obtained by adding the two
preceding terms.
HARMONIC SERIES
A sequence whose reciprocals form an
arithmetic sequence.
