Lesson 2.

1
Sequences and Series
2.1.1 Sequences
In mathematics, the word sequence is used in much the same way as in ordinary
English. Saying that a collection is listed in sequence means that it is ordered so that it
has a first member, a second member, a third member, and so on.
Mathematically, you can think of a sequence as a function whose domain is the
set of positive integers.

Rather than using function notation, however, sequences are usually written
using subscript notation, as indicated in the following definition.

Definition of Sequence
An infinite sequence is a function whose domain is the set of positive integers.
The function values
a1, a2, a3 , a4, ……….., an, …………..
are the terms of the sequence. If the domain of the function consists of the first
positive integers only, the sequence is a finite sequence.

On occasion it is convenient to begin subscripting a sequence with 0 instead of 1

so that the terms of the sequence become a1, a2 , a3, a4, ……

Writing the Terms of a Sequence

Write the first four terms of the sequences given by
a. an = 3n – 2
b. an = 3 + (-1) n
Solution:
a. The first terms of the sequence given by a n = 3n – 2 are

b. The first terms of the sequence given by a n = 3 + (-1) n are

A Sequence Whose Terms Alternate in Sign
(−1) 𝑛
Write the first five terms of the sequence given by an =
2𝑛− 1
Solution:
The first five terms of the sequence are as follows.

Finding the nth Term of a Sequence

Write an expression for the apparent nth term of each sequence.
a. 1, 3, 5, 7, . . . .
b. 2, -5, 10, -17 . . . .

Solution:
a.
n: 1 2 3 4 . . . n
Terms: 1 3 5 7 . . . an
Apparent pattern: Each terms is 1 less than twice n, which implies that
an = 2n - 1
b.

n: 1 2 3 4 . . . n
Terms: 2 -5 10 -17 . . . an
Apparent pattern: The terms have alternating signs with those in the
even positions being negative. Each term is 1 more than the square of n,
which implies that
An = (-1) n+1 (n2 + 1)

The Fibonacci Sequence: A Recursive Sequence

The Fibonacci sequence is defined recursively, as follows.

a0 = 1, a1 = 1, ak = ak – 2 + ak – 1, where k ≥ 2

Write the first six terms of this sequence.

 Solution:

Factorial Notation
Some very important sequences in mathematics involve terms that are defined
with special types of products called factorials.

Definition of Factorial
If is a positive integer, n factorial is defined as
n! = 1 .2 .3 . 4 . . . (n-1) . n
As a special case, zero factorial is defined as 0! = 1.

Here are some values of n! for the first several nonnegative integers. Notice that
0! is 1 by definition.

0! = 1
1! = 1
2! = 1 . 2 = 2
3! = 1 .2 . 3 = 6
4! = 1 .2 .3 . 4 = 24
5! = 1 .2 .3 .4 . 5 = 120

The value of does not have to be very large before the value of n! becomes
extremely large. For instance, 10! = 3,628,800.
Factorials follow the same conventions for order of operations as do exponents.
For instance,
2n! = 2(n!) = 2(1 .2 .3 . 4 . . . n)
Whereas (2n)! = 1 .2 .3 . 4 . . . 2n

Writing the Terms of a Sequence Involving Factorials

Write the first five terms of the sequence given by

2𝑛
an =
𝑛!

Begin with n = 0. Then graph the terms on a set of coordinate axes.

Solution:

Figure 2.1 shows the first five terms of the sequence.

Figure 2.1
 Lesson 2.2
Sigma Notation

2.2.1 Writing and Evaluating Sums in Sigma Notation

There is a convenient notation for the sum of the terms of a finite sequence. It is
called summation notation or sigma notation because it involves the use of the
uppercase Greek letter sigma, written as ∑.

Definition of Summation Notation

The sum of the first n terms of a sequence is represented by

where I is called the index of summation, n is the upper limit of summation, and
1 is the lower limit of summation.

Summation Notation for Sums

Find each sum.

Solution:
 For this summation, note that the sum is very close to the irrational number e =
2.718281828. It can be shown that as more terms of the sequence whose nth
term is 1/n! are added, the sum becomes closer and closer to e.

Properties of Sum

Series
Many applications involve the sum of the terms of a finite or infinite sequence.
Such a sum is called a series.

Definition of Series
Consider the infinite sequence a1, a2, a3, . . . . . , ai . . .
1. The sum of the first n terms of the sequence is called a finite series or the
nth partial sum of the sequence and is denoted by

2. The sum of all the terms of the infinite sequence is called an infinite series
and is denoted by

Finding the Sum of a Series

3
For the series∑∞
𝑖=1 , find (a) the third partial sum and (b) the sum.
10𝑖

Solution
a. The third partial sum is

b. The sum of the series is

Application
Example:
For the years 1980 to 2003, the resident population of the United States can be
approximated by the model

where anis the population (in millions) and n represents the year, with n = 0
corresponding to 1980. Find the last five terms of this finite sequence, which
represent the U.S. population for the years 1999 to 2003. (Source: U.S. Census
Bureau)

Solution:
The last five terms of this finite sequence are as follows

Arithmetic Sequences
A sequence whose consecutive terms have a common difference is called an
arithmetic sequence.

Definition of Arithmetic Sequence

A sequence is arithmetic if the differences between consecutive terms are the
same. So, the sequence

a1, a2 , a3, a4, . . . .an . . .

is arithmetic if there is a number d such that

az – a1 = a3 – a2 = a4 - a3 = . . . = d

The number d is the common difference of the arithmetic sequence.

Examples of Arithmetic Sequence

a. The sequence whose nth term is 4n + 3 is arithmetic. For this sequence, the
common difference between consecutive terms is 4.
 b. The sequence whose nth term is 4n + 3 is arithmetic. For this sequence, the
common difference between consecutive terms is 4.

1
c. The sequence whose nth term is (n + 3) is arithmetic. For this sequence,
4
1
the common difference between consecutive terms is .
4

The nth Term of an Arithmetic Sequence

The nth term of an arithmetic sequence has the form
an = dn + c Linear Form

where d is the common difference between consecutive terms of the sequence

and c = a1 – d. A graphical representation of this definition is shown in Figure
2.2. Substituting a1 - d for c in an = dn + c yields an alternative recursion form for
the nth term of an arithmetic sequence.
an = a1 + (n - 1)d

Figure 2.2

Finding the nth Term of an Arithmetic Sequence

Find a formula for the nth term of the arithmetic sequence whose common
difference is 3 and whose first term is 2.

Solution
Because the sequence is arithmetic, you know that the formula for the nth term
is of the form an = dn + c. Moreover, because the common difference is d = 3,
the formula must have the form
 an = 3n + c Substitute 3 for d

Because a1 = 2, it follows that

c = a1 – d
= 2– 3 Substitute 2 for a1 and 3 for d
= -1

The formula for the nth term is

an = 3n – 1.

The sequence therefore has the following form.

2, 5, 8, 11, 14, . . ., 3n – 1, . . .

The Sum of a Finite Arithmetic Sequence

There is a simple formula for the sum of a finite arithmetic sequence.
The sum of a finite arithmetic sequence with terms is

Finding the Sum of a Finite Arithmetic Sequence

Find the sum: 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 11 + 13 + 15 + 17 + 19

Solution:
To begin, notice that the sequence is arithmetic (with a common difference of
2). Moreover, the sequence has 10 terms. So, the sum of the sequence is

Example:
Find the sum of the integers (a) from 1 to 100 and (b) from 1 to N.

Solution
a. The integers from 1 to 100 form an arithmetic sequence that has 100 terms.
So, you can use the formula for the sum of an arithmetic sequence, as
follows.

Sn = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + . . . . + 99 + 100
 b. Sn = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + . . . . + N

The Sum of a Finite Geometric Sequence

The formula for the sum of a finite geometric sequence is as follows.

with common ratio r ≠ 1 is given by

Finding the Sum of a Finite Geometric Sequence

Find the sum

Solution:
By writing out a few terms, you have

Now, because a1 = 4, r = 0.3, and n = 12, and you can apply the formula for the
sum of a finite geometric sequence to obtain
Geometric Series
The summation of the terms of an infinite geometric sequence is called an
infinite geometric series or simply a geometric series.

The formula for the sum of a finite geometric sequence can, depending on the
value of r be extended to produce a formula for the sum of an infinite geometric series.
Specifically, if the common ratio r has the property that |r| < 1 it can be shown that rn
becomes arbitrarily close to zero as n increases without bound. Consequently,

The Sum of an Infinite Geometric Series

If |r| < 1, the infinite geometric series
a1 + a1r + a1 r2 + a1r3 + . . . + a1rn-1 + . . .

Has the sum

Finding the Sum of an Infinite Geometric Series

Find each sum.
a.

b. 3 + 0.3 + 0.03 + 0.003 + . . .

Solution:
a.

b.