CHAPTER 2

SEQUENCE AND SERIES

2.1 Introduction
Sequences
 A sequence is an ordered list of numbers.
 The numbers in the ordered list are called
“terms”.
 For example: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, …
 A finite sequence has fixed number of terms.
For example: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 is a finite sequence
of five terms.
 An infinite sequence has an infinite number of
terms. For example: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, …
Series
 A series is formed when the terms of a
sequence are added.
 The value you get upon adding all of the terms
is called the “sum”.
 For example: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 = 15
 A finite series will end after finite number of
terms. For example: 2 + 6 + 8 + 10 + …

2.2 Arithmetic sequence

An arithmetic sequence is a sequence of numbers in which any term may be obtained from the previous
term by adding a certain number, called the common difference.
For example: 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, … is an arithmetic sequence with a common difference of 4.

Generally, the terms of an arithmetic sequence are given by

𝑎, 𝑎 + 𝑑, 𝑎 + 2𝑑, 𝑎 + 3𝑑, …

where 𝑎 = first term and 𝑑 = common difference.

First term, T1  a  (1  1)d  a

Second term, T2  a  (2  1)d  a  d
Third term, T3  a  (3  1)d  a  2d
.
.
.
Thus, the 𝑛 term Tn  a  (n  1)d .
th

Common difference, 𝑑 can be calculated by using d  Tn  Tn 1 i.e d  T2  T1  T3  T2  ...

Example 1:
Find the 7th term of the following arithmetic sequence, 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, …
Solution:
𝑎 = 1 and 𝑑 = 5 − 1 = 4
T7  1  (7  1)4  25

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 Example 2:
5 3 7
Given the arithmetic sequence 1, , , , 2,... Find:
4 2 4
(a) the 21st term
(b) what term is the number 9.
Solution:
5 1
(a) a  1, d   1 
4 4
1
T21  1  (21  1)  6
4

(b) Given that Tn  9 . Hence, we need to find the value of 𝑛.

*Use the algebra techniques that you had learnt in Chapter 1*
Tn  9
a  (n  1)d  9
1
1  (n  1) 9
4
1
(n  1)  9  1
4
(n  1)  8  4
n  32  1
n  33

2.3 Geometric sequence

A geometric sequence is a sequence of numbers in which the ratio of a term to the previous term is a
constant, called the common ratio.
For example: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, … is a geometric sequence with a common ratio of 2.

Generally, the terms of a geometric sequence are given by

a, ar , ar 2 , ar 3 ,...

where 𝑎 = first term and 𝑟 = common ratio

First term, T1  ar 11  ar 0  a

Second term, T2  ar 21  ar 1  ar
Third term, T3  ar 31  ar 2
.
.
.
Thus, the 𝑛th term Tn  ar n 1 .

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 T2 T3
The common ratio, 𝑟 is given by: r    ...
T1 T2

Example 3:
Find the 10th term for the following geometric sequence: 9, 27, 81, …
Solution:
27
a  9, r  3
9
T10  (9)(3)10 1  177147

Example 4:
The third term of a geometric sequence is 15 and the sixth term is 120. Find the first term and the common
ratio.
Solution:

ar 2  15 --------------(1)
ar 5  120 ------------(2)
(2)  (1),
ar 5 120

ar 2 15
T2 T3
r 8
3
 r   ... (common ratio of a term to the previous term)
T1 T2
r2
Substitute r  2 into (1)
a(2) 2  15
15
a
4
15
The first term is and the common ratio is 2.
4
Exercise 1:
(a) Find the 12th term of the given arithmetic sequence: -6, -11, -16, -21,…
(b) Find the 11th term of the given geometric sequence: 4, 8, 16, …
Solution:

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Exercise 2:
The 12th and 17th term of an arithmetic sequence are 38 and 53 respectively. Find the 39th term.
Solution:

Exercise 3:
If x  2, 2, 2 x  3 are three consecutive terms of a geometric sequence, find the possible values of x .
Solution:

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2.4 Arithmetic series
An arithmetic series is the sum of the terms of an arithmetic sequence. The sum of 𝑛 terms of arithmetic
sequence is given by:

n
S n  [2a  (n  1)d ]
2

n
S n can also be written as S n (a  l ) where 𝑙 is the last term of the sequence.
2
The relationship between Tn and S n is Tn  S n  S n 1 .

Example 5:
Compute the sum of the 25 terms for an arithmetic series in Example 1.
Solution:
From Example 1, 𝑎 = 1 and 𝑑 = 5 − 1 = 4
25
S 25  [2(1)  (25  1)4]  1225
2

Example 6:
Find the sum of an arithmetic series of 25 terms if it is known that the first term is 5 and the last term is
41.
Solution:
25
S 25  (5  41)  575
2

Example 7:
(a) Find the expression for the sum of the first n terms of the series 5 + 8 + 11 + …
(b) Hence, find the value of n if the sum is equal to 440.
Solution:
a) b)
a  5 and d  3 3n 2  7 n  880  0
(3n  55)(n  16)  0
n
S n  [2a  (n  1)d ] 55
2 n or n  16
3
n
S n  [10  3( n  1)] The value of n is 16 since 𝑛 cannot be a negative
2 number.
n
S n  (3n  7)
2
S n  440
n
440  (3n  7)
2
n
Hence, (3n  7)  440
2

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Example 8:
The sum of the first 15 terms of an arithmetic series is 255 and the sum of the next 15 terms is 705. Find
the first term and the common difference.
Solution:

S15  255
15
( 2a  14d )  255
2
2a  14d  34        (1)
S 30  255  705  960
30
(2a  29d )  960
2
2a  29d  64        (2)
( 2)  (1),
15d  30
d 2
From (1),
2a  14(2)  34
a3
The first term is 3 and the common difference is 2.

Exercise 4:
The first and last terms of an arithmetic sequence are 9 and 165 respectively. If the sum of all the terms of
the arithmetic sequence is 3480, find the number of terms and the common difference of this arithmetic
sequence.

Solution:

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2.5 Geometric series
A geometric series is the sum of the terms of a geometric sequence. The sum of 𝑛 terms of geometric
sequence is given by:

a(1  r n )
Sn  for r  1
1 r
a(r n  1)
Sn  for r  1
r 1

The relationship between Tn and S n is Tn  S n  S n 1 .

Example 9:
Find the sum to the 8th term of the geometric series: 2 – 6 + 18 – 54 + …
Solution:
6
a  2, r   3
2
From the formula,

2(1  (3) 8 )
S8   3280
1  (3)

Example 10:
In a geometric sequence, the sum of the first six terms is nine times the sum of the first three terms. Find
the common ratio.
Solution:

a(r 6  1)
Sum of the first six terms, S 6 
r 1

a(r 3  1)
Sum of the first three terms, S 3 
r 1
S 6  9S 3
a ( r 6  1) 9a (r 3  1)

r 1 r 1
r  1  9( r  1)
6 3

(r 3  1)(r 3  1)  9( r 3  1)
r3 1  9
r3  8
r2
The common ratio is 2.

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2.6 Sum to infinity of a geometric series
a
The sum of infinity of a geometric sequence is given by S   for  1  r  1 , then r n  0 as n  .
1 r
Example 11:
2
Given a geometric sequence 18, 6, 2, ,... Determine the value of S  .
3
Solution:
6 1
a  18, r  
18 3
18
S   27
1
1
3

Example 12:
Express the recurring decimal 0.45  (0.454545...) as a fraction in its lowest terms.
Solution:

0.45
 0.454545...
 0.45  0.0045  0.000045  ...
 0.45  0.45(0.01)  0.45(0.0001)  ...
 0.45  0.45(0.01)  0.43(0.01) 2  ...

0.0045
a  0.45, r   0.01
0.45

0.45 5
S  
1  0.01 11

Exercise 5:
1 31
The sum of the first 5 terms of a geometric series with common ratio is . Determine the 8th term and
2 32
the sum of infinity.
Solution:

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Exercise 6:
Express the recurring decimal 0.2 as a fraction in its lowest terms.
Solution:

2.7 Application of arithmetic and geometric series

The use of arithmetic and geometric series in solving problems in daily life can be seen in the following
examples.

Example 13:
Find the number of months it takes to repay the debt of RM39750 by monthly instalments, the first
instalment being RM60 and the amount increasing by RM30 each month after the first payment. What is
the final instalment?

Solution:
The monthly instalments are RM60, RM90, RM120, which form an arithmetic sequence. The sum of the
instalments is equal to RM39750.

Using the formula,

n
S n  [2a  (n  1)d ]
2
n
39750  [2(60)  30(n  1)] (n is the number of months)
2
79500  n(30n  90)
n 2  3n  2650  0
(n  50)(n  53)  0
n  50 or  53 (rejected)
Since n cannot be a negative number, the number of months is 50.

The final instalment or 50th payment:

T50  60  49(30)  1530
The final instalment is RM1530.

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Example 14:
Each year the price of a machine depreciates by 10% of the value at the beginning of the year. If the original
price of the article was RM5000, find its price after 10 years.
Solution:
Original price = RM5000
 90 
Price after 1 year = RM  (5000)
 100 
2
 90 90   90 
Price after 2 years = RM   (5000) =RM   (5000)
 100 100   100 
3
 90 
Price after 3 years = RM   (5000)
 100 
10
 90 
Price after 10 years = RM   (5000) = RM1743 (to the nearest ringgit)
 100 

Exercise 7:
Sally grows strawberries. The first year she planted 6 seeds. The next year she harvested and planted 18
seeds. The next year after that she planted 54.
(a) Is this arithmetic or geometric sequence?
(b) How many seeds will she plant in her 8th year?

Solution:

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 TUTORIAL 3

1. Find the tenth term in the following sequences

(a) Tn = 5 n + 3
(b) Tn = 4  2 n1
6
(c) Tn = 
n +1
(d) Tn =  2n1

2. Given the recursion formula, find the first four terms

(a) Tn = Tn 1 + n , a = 0
(b) Tn = Tn1 +10 , T1 = 34
2 + Tn1
(c) Tn = , T1 = 14
2
(d) Tn = Tn1  4 , T1 = 2

3. Given the arithmetic sequences, find the terms

(a) 34, -66, -166, -266, … Find T29
(b) -3, 1, 5, 9, … Find T28
(c) -7, -207, -407, -607, … Find T52
1 2
(d) 3 , 2 , 2,... Find T99
3 3

4. Find the terms in arithmetic sequences with the given terms and common differences:
(a) T19 = 178, d = 10 . Find T23
(b) T12 = 72, d = 3 . Find T39
(c) T24 = 43.9 , d = 1.8 . Find T21
1
(d) T22 = 9, d = . Find T36
3

5. Given two terms in an arithmetic sequence, find the term named in the problem:
(a) T12 = 104,T34 = 302 . Find T37
(b) T14 = 4,T32 = 32 . Find T23
(c) T15 = 2765,T36 = 6965 . Find T39
(d) T14 = 3.9,T35 = 27 . Find T21

6. Given the arithmetic sequences, find the terms.

(a) … , -18, _ , -218, …
(b) … , 12, _ , _ , 102, …
(c) … , 35, _ , 435, …
(d) … , 39, _ , _ , 27, …
(e) … , 27, _ , _ , 9, …

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7. Evaluate the following arithmetic series.
(a) 1.2 + 0.6 + 0 +  0.6 ..., n = 20

(b) 38 + 45 + 52 + 59..., n = 19

(c)  16 +  23 +  30 +  37 ..., n = 14

 11   53   73   31 
(d)    +    +    +   ..., n = 8
 10   30   30   10 

8. Find the number of terms n in each arithmetic series.

(a) a = 31, d = 7 , S n = 444
13 2 1430
(b) a   , d  , Sn 
12 3 3
(c) a = 17 ,Tn = 129, S n = 1095
(d) a = 16, Tn = 40, S n = 140
3 5
(e) 1+ + 2 + ..., S n = 22
2 2

9. The sum of the first 8 terms of an arithmetic sequence is 60 and the sum of the next 6 terms is 108.
Find the 25th term of this arithmetic sequence.

10. Given the arithmetic series 3 + 7 + 11+ 15 + … +79. Find

(a) the number of terms of the above series,
(b) the sum of all the terms of the above series.

11. Find the sum of all integers between 10 and 400 that are divisible by 9.

12. How many terms of the arithmetic sequence 1, 3, 5, 7, … will give a sum of 961?

13. The first, second and the nth terms of an arithmetic sequence are 2, 6, and 58 respectively.
(a) Determine the value of 𝑛.
(b) Hence, determine the exact value of the sum of 𝑛 terms.

14. Given the geometric sequences, find the term.

(a) -4, -12, -36, -108, … Find T12
(b) 2, 8, 32, 128, … Find T10
(c) -1, -2, -4, -8, … Find T12
(d) 2, -4, 8, -16, … Find T11

15. Find the following terms from the geometric sequences,

(a) T3 = 18, r = 3 . Find T10
(b) a = 4, r = 2 . Find T12
(c) T5 = 32, r = 2 . Find T9

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 1
(d) T5 = 1, r = . Find a
4

16. Given two terms from geometric sequence, find the following terms,
(a) T3 = 16,T2 = 8 . Find T9
(b) T3 = 9,T6 = 243 . Find T9
(c) T6 = 972,T5 = 324 . Find T10
128 16
(d) T6 =  ,T3 = . Find T12
243 9

17. Find the missing terms in the following geometric sequences,

(a) … -27, _ , _ , -1 , …
(b) … 128 , _ , _ , 16 , …
(c) … , -1, _ , -4 , …
(d) … , 0.4 _ , 10, …
1
(e) …, -2, _,  , …
18

18. Evaluate the following geometric series.

1
(a) a = 5, r = , n = 8
4
(b) a = 0.5, r = 2, n = 10
3 1 1 1
(c) + + + ..., n = 6
4 4 12 36
(d) 3  6 + 12  24..., n = 7

19. Find the number of terms n in each geometric series.

1 381
(a) a = 3, r = , S n =
2 64
(b) a = 2, r = 3, S n = 80
1 1 21845
(c) 4 + 1 + + ..., S n =
4 16 4096
(d)  1+ 5  25 + 125..., S n = 521

20. Determine each of the following sequence whether it is arithmetic, geometric, or neither.
(a) 3, -6, 12, -24, 48, …
2 4 6 8 10
(b) , , , ,...
3 5 7, 9 11
(c) -0.5, -1, -2, -4, -8, …
(d) -40, -10, 20, 50, 80, …
3 9
(e) 0, ,3, ,6,...
2 2

21. The first term of a geometric sequence is 6. The last term is 1458 and the sum of all the terms is 7320.
Approximate the common ratio of this geometric sequence.

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22. 15, 𝑝, 𝑞, 405 are four consecutive terms of a geometric sequence. Find the values of 𝑝 and 𝑞.

23. Calculate the infinite geometric series of the following:

4
(a) a = 2, r =
5
2
(b) a = 1, r = 
3
1 1 1
(c)  1 +  + ...
3 9 27
(d) 40  20 + 10  5...
1
(e)  4  2  1  ...
2
(f) 0.1 + 0.01 + 0.001 + 0.0001 + …

24. Determine the common ratio of the infinite geometric series.

(a) a = 0.5, S = 2.5
5
(b) a = 1, S =
3
(c) a = 1, S = 2.5
5
(d) a = 1, S =
4

25. The first term of a geometric sequence is 4 and the sum to infinity is 8. Find the 10th term.

26. Write the following recurring decimals as the sum of geometric sequences. Hence write the recurring
decimals as lowest fractions:
(a) 0.31
(b) 3.2814

Word problem

27. At the end of first month of work, Michael saves RM50. At the end of the second and third month of
work he saves RM60 and RM70 respectively. He saves more than RM10 than previous month. After
how many months will his savings amount to RM1260?

28. The first year pay of a soldier is RM10,000. The yearly increment is RM150. Find
(a) the yearly pay of a soldier after his 10th year,
(b) sum of all his pays after working for 6 years.

29. Each year the price of an article depreciates by 10% of the value at the beginning of the year. If the
original price of the article was RM400, find its price after 10 years.

30. For the month of April, Kassim decides to save RM1 on the first day of the month, RM2 on the second
day, RM4 on the third day of the month and so on following a geometric sequence. Calculate how much
Kassim has saved by the end of the month of April.

31. In 2005, the average price of a smartphone was RM1600. The average price was decreased 4% each
year. What was the average price of a smartphone in year 2015?

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32. In his piggy bank, Alden dropped RM1.00 on 1st May, RM1.75 on 2nd May and RM2.50 on 3rd May and
so on until the last day of May.
(a) How much did he dropped in his piggy bank on 19th May?
(b) Calculate his total deposit in his piggy bank for the month of May.

33. For the year 2015, the number of students taking FIA1214 course is 500. It is known that the number
of students taking this course increases by 10% every year. Find the minimum number of lecturers
required to teach this course in 10 years time given that a lecturer can handle a maximum of 100
students.

34. Dr. Franklin begins an experiment with 100 bacteria in a container. He finds that the number of bacteria
present at any given time is modelled by the following recursive formula:

 a 0  100

a n  2a n 1

where 𝑛 is the number of hours after the beginning of the experiment.

How many bacteria are present 5 hours after the beginning of the experiment?

35. Malindo Airlines passenger load has been increasing by 12% annually. In 2010, they carried 20,500
passengers. How many passengers should they expect to carry in 2020?

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