Engineering Algebra

Engineering Algebra

Lesson 11: Sequence and Series

Sequence

Sequence is a function whose domain is a collection of consecutive natural numbers

with 1. For example, the following domain equation {1, 2, 3, …} defines an infinite
sequence.

The ellipsis (. . . ) indicates that the sequence is continuous. If the domain of

a sequence consists of natural numbers that end, such as {1, 2, 3, . . . , k}, then it is called a
finite sequence.

Recursive Sequence

Many of the sequences you will find in the course of mathematics are generated by a
formula where some operation(s) is performed by the previous element of the sequence
𝑎n−1 to give the next element of the sequence 𝑎n. These are called recursive sequence.

Arithmetic Sequence

An arithmetic sequence is one in which a term is obtained by adding a constant to a

previous term of a sequence. So the nth term can be described by the formula 𝑎n = 𝑎1 + (n
− 1)𝑑. And the recursive form is 𝑎n = 𝑎n−1 + 𝑑.
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An arithmetic or (linear) sequence is a sequence of number in which each new term

is calculated by adding a constant value to the previous term.

Example:
1. {10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25}

𝑎1 = 10 (First term)

𝑑 = 3 (Difference between any two adjacent numbers) e.g. 𝑑 = 𝑎2 − 𝑎1

n is the number of terms (6)

Therefore:

𝑎n = 𝑎1 + (n − 1) (𝑑)

= 10 + (6 − 1) (3)

𝑎n = 25 Ans.

2. {25, 22, 19, 16, 13, 10}

𝑎1 = 25 (First term)

𝑑 = −3 (Difference between any two adjacent numbers)

n is the number of terms (6)

Therefore:

𝑎n = 𝑎1 + (n − 1) (𝑑)

= 25 + (5) (−3)

𝑎n = 10 Ans.

To find for the sum of Arithmetic Sequence we have:

Geometric Sequence

A geometric sequence is one in which a term of a sequence is obtained by

multiplying the previous term by a constant. It can be described by the formula 𝑎n =
𝑟(𝑎1)n−1 and the recursive form is 𝑎n+1 = 𝑟(𝑎n)
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A geometric sequence is a list where each number is generated by multiplying the

constant by the previous number.

Example:
1. {2, 6, 18, 54, 162}
𝑎1 = 2 (First term)

𝑟 = 3 (The ratio between any two adjacent numbers)

n is the number of terms (5)

Therefore:

𝑎n = 𝑎1(𝑟)n−1

= 2(3)5−1

= 2(3)4

𝑎n = 162 Ans.

2. {162, 54, 18, 6, 2}

𝑎1 = 162 (First term)

1
𝑟 = 3 (The ratio between any two adjacent numbers)

n is the number of terms (5)

Therefore:

𝑎n = 𝑎1(𝑟)n−1

1 5−1
= 162( 3 )

1
= 162( 3 )4

𝑎n = 2 Ans.

To find for the sum of Geometric Sequence we have:

Sn = 𝑎 1 ( 1−r 𝑛 )
1-r
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Series

Series is the summation of all the terms in the sequence or the resulting value you
get when you add up all the terms of a sequence.