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TOPIC NAME - SEQUENCES AND SERIES (DOC-1)

FOR EXAMS - AAI,RRB(JE),RRB(SSE),DMRC,JMRC,UPSC,RPSC,STATE EXAMS
1. Sequence – A sequence is a function whose domain is the set N of natural numbers.
2. Representation of a sequence
a) Listing its first few terms till the rule for writing down other terms becomes clear. For eg. 1,
3, 5, ………. is a sequence whose nth term is (2n-1).
b) Giving a rule of writing the nth term of the sequence. For eg. The sequence 1, 3, 5, 7,, ……
can be written as a n  2n  1

3. Series – If a1 , a 2 , a 3 , a 4 ..............a n is a sequence, then the expression

a1  a 2  a 3  a 4  ..............  a n is a series.

4. Progressions – Those sequences whose term follows certain pattern are called progressions.
5. Arithmetic Progression (A.P.) – A sequence is called an arithmetic progression if the difference
of a term and the previous term is always same, i.e.
a n 1  a n  constant ( d) n  N

d is called as common difference.

6. General term of an A.P. – Let ‘a’ be the first term and d be the common difference of an A.P,
then its nth term is – a n  a  (n  1)d

7. nth term of an A.P. from the end – Let a be the first term and d be the common difference of
an A.P. having m terms, then.
nth term from the end = (m  n  1) th term from beginning
= a  (m  n)d
Sum to n terms of an A.P.
The sum Sn of n terms of an A.P. with first term ‘a’ and common difference ‘d’ is
n
Sn = [2a + (n –1)d].
2
n
Or Sn = [a + ] where  = last term; a + (n –1)d
2

Selection of terms in an A.P.

Number of terms Terms Common difference
3 a–d, a, a + d d
4 a–3d, a–d, a + d, a + 3d 2d
5 a–2d, a–d, a, a + d, a + 2d d
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6 a–5d, a–3d, a–d, a + d, a + 3d, a + 5d 2d
Arithmetic Mean :- If between two given numbers a and b we have a number A so that a, A, b are
in A.P., such a number A is called the arithmetic mean (A.M.). In this case
a+b
A=
2
 If between two given quantities a and b we have to insert n quantities A1, A2, A3,…….An such
that a, A1, A2, ……..An, b, are in A.P., then we say that A1, A2,….., An are arithmetic means
between a and b.
In this case form on A.P.,
 b-a 
A n = a + nd = a + n  
 n +1 
Geometric Progression (G.P.) : A sequence is called a geometric progression if the ratio of a term
and the term preceding to it is always a constant quantity, i.e.
a n+1
= constant(= r)  n  N
an

General term of a G.P. : Let ‘a’ be the first term and r be the common ratio of a G.P. then its nth
term is –
a n = ar n-1

Sum of n terms of a G.P. : The sum sn of n terms of a G.P. with first term ‘a’ and common ratio ‘r’
is
a(r n -1)
Sn = , (r  1)
r -1
a(1- r n )
or Sn = , (r  1)
1- r
Selection of terms in G.P. :

No. of terms Terms Common ratio

3 a r
, a, ar
r

4 a a r2
3
, , ar, ar 3
r r

5 a a r
2
, , a, ar, ar 2
r r

Sum of An infinite G.P. :

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a
The sum of an infinite G.P. with first term a and common ratio r | r | 1 is S 
1 r
Geometic Mean :
If between two given number a and b we have a number G so that a, G, b are in G.P. such a number
G is called the geometric mean (G.M.). In this case.
G  ab
 If between two given quantities a and b we have to insert n quantities G1 , G 2 , G 3 ,.....G n such that
a, G1 , G 2 ,....., G n , b are in G.P. Then we say that G1 , G 2 ,....., G n are the geometric means between
a, b.
n
n  b  n 1
G n = ar = a  
a
Relationship between A.M. and G.M :
If A and G are respectively arithmetic and geometric means between two positive numbers a and b,
then
A  G.

Sum to n terms of some special series :

(a) Sum of first n natural number:-
n(n  1)
1  2  3  ......  n 
2
(b) Sum of the squares of first n natural number:-
n(n  1)(2n  1)
12  22  32  ......  n 2 
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(c) Sum of the cubes of first n natural number:-
 n(n  1) 
2

13  23  33  ......  n 3  
 2 

Example

Example 1: Write the first three terms in each of the following sequences defined by the following:
(i) a n  2n  5a

Answer : a.) 5,7,9

b.)7,9,11
c.) 9,11,13
d.)6,8,10

Example 2: What is the 20th term of the sequence defined by

a n  (n  1)(2  n)(3  n)?
Answer : a.) -7866
b.) 7866
c.) 7796
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d.) -7796

Example 3: Let the sequence a n be defined as follows:

a1  1, a n  a n 1  2 for n  2 .
Find first five terms.
Answer: a.) 1,3,5,7,9
b.) 1,4,6,8,10

Example 4 In an A.P. if m th term is n and the n th term is m, where m  n , find the pth term.

Answer : a.) n+m+p

b.) n+m-p
c.) n-m-p
d.) n-m+p

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Example 5: If the sum of n terms of an A.P. is nP  n(n  1)Q, where P and Q are constants, find
2
the common difference.

Answer : a.) P
b.) Q
c.) P+Q
d.) P-Q

Example 6: The sum of n terms of two arithmetic progressions are in the ratio (3n + 8): (7n + 15).
Find the ratio of their 12th terms.

Answer : a.) 7:16

b.) 16:7
c.) 9:17
d.) 17:9

Example 7: The income of person is Rs. 3,00,000, in the first year and he receives an increase of Rs.
10,000 to his income per year for the next 19 years. Find the total amount, he received in 20 years.

Answer : a.) 7900000

b.) 9700000
c.) 7700000
d.) 8700000

Example 8: Insert 6 numbers between 3 and 24 such that the resulting sequence is an A.P.

Example 9: Find the 10th and n th terms of the G.P. 5, 25, 125,.... .
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Answer : a.) 5n
b.) 5n+1
c.) 6n
d.) 6n+1

Example 10: Which term of the G.P., 2,8,32, ... up to n terms is 131072?

Answer : a.) 8th

b.) 9th
c.) 10th
d.) 11th

Example 11: In a G.P, the 3rd term is 24 and the 6th term is 192. Find the 10th term.

Answer : a.) 3028

b.) 3072
c.) 3024
d.) 3026

Example 12: Find the sum of first n terms and the sum of first 5 terms of the geometric series
2 4
1    ...
3 9

Answer : a.) 211/72

b.) 211/81
c.) 112/81
d.) 112/72

3 3 3069
Example 13: How many terms of the G.P. 6, , ,.... are needed to give the sum ?
2 4 512

Answer: a.) 9
b.) 10
c.) 11
d.) 12

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Example 14: The sum of first three terms of a G.P. is and their product is – 1.
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Find the common ratio.

Answer: a.) -4/3

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b.) -3/4
c.) -3/5
d.) -5/3

Example 15: Find the sum of the sequence 7, 77, 777, 7777, ... to n terms.

Example 16: A person has 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great grandparents, and so on. Find the
number of his ancestors during the ten generations preceding his own.

Answer : a.) 2046

b.) 2048
c.) 2024
d.) 1946

Example 17: Insert three numbers between 1 and 256 so that the resulting sequence is a G.P.

Example 18: If A.M. and G.M. of two positive numbers a and b are 10 and 8, respectively, find the
number.

Example 19: Find the sum to n terms of the series: 5 + 11 + 19 + 29 + 41....

Example 20: Find the sum to n terms of the series whose n th term is n (n + 3).

Example 21: If p th , q th , r th and s th terms of an A.P. are in G.P, then (p – q), (q – r), (r – s) are in .

Answer : a.) AP
b.) GP
c.) HP
d.) AGP

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Example 22: If a, b, c are in G.P. and a  b  c , then x, y, z are in.
x y z

Answer : a.) AP
b.) GP
c.) HP
d.) AGP
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Example 23: If a, b, c, d and p are different real numbers such that

(a 2  b2  c2 )p 2  2(ab  bc  cd)p  (b 2  c 2  d 2 )  0 , then a, b, c and d are in.
Answer : a.) AP
b.) GP
c.) HP
d.) AGP

Example 24: If p, q, r are in G.P. and the equations, px 2  2qx  r  0 and dx 2  2ex  f  0 have a
d e f
common root, then , , are in.
p q r

Answer : a.) AP
b.) GP
c.) HP
d.) AGP

For Solution of this exercise

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