ARITHEMETIC SEQUENCES (AS)

Arithmetic in mathematics means that we are adding something. But remember that if we add a negative
number we are actually subtracting. For example:

12 + (−5) = 7

7 + (−5) = 2

2 + (−5) = −3

So for a sequence to become an arithmetic sequence we need to add the same number every time. For
example:

2 ; 8 ; 14 ; 20 ; 26 ; …

As you can see we adding 6 the whole time. This forms a sequence and more specifically an arithmetic
sequence. Now I would not bore you with the concepts of terms but we can see that in the example above:

𝑇1 = 2

𝑇2 = 8

𝑇3 = 14

𝑇4 = 20

𝑇5 = 26

And as we are adding the same number every time, we call this number the constant difference and we give
it a symbol, 𝑑. We can also calculate it by using the formula:

𝑇2 − 𝑇1 = 𝑑

8−2=𝟔

𝒐𝒓

𝑇3 − 𝑇2 = 𝑑

14 − 8 = 𝟔

𝒐𝒓

𝑇4 − 𝑇3 = 𝑑

20 − 14 = 𝟔

So we can rewrite the formula to the following: 𝑇2 − 𝑇1 = 𝑇3 − 𝑇2 = 𝑇𝑛 − 𝑇𝑛−1 = 𝑑.

For those that know me, I like to do magic, but not magic like on television but magic with mathematics.
Let’s look at the sequence we have above. We can rewrite that sequence so that we can highlight the
common differences in each term.

𝑇1 = 2

𝑇2 = 8 = 2 + 𝟔 = 2 + 1(6)

𝑇3 = 14 = 2 + 𝟔 + 𝟔 = 2 + 2(6)

𝑇4 = 20 = 2 + 𝟔 + 𝟔 + 𝟔 = 2 + 3(6)

𝑇5 = 26 = 2 + 𝟔 + 𝟔 + 𝟔 + 𝟔 = 2 + 4(6)

Now something really interesting is happening when we write the terms like that. We can see that we are
adding one less multiple than the term we are working with. If we take 𝑇2 , we are adding one multiple of 6
than the term, look at 𝑇4 , the same happens, the term value is 4 but we adding 3 multiples of 6. So this leads
to a very interesting conclusion. We can then figure out any term in the sequence by doing the following:

𝑇15 = 2 + (15 − 1)(6) = 86

So since we are doing mathematics we need to get a formula that we can use to calculate any term in this
sequence. By rewriting the formula to this:

𝑇𝑛 = 2 + (𝑛 − 1)6

= 2 + 6𝑛 − 6

= 6𝑛 − 4

But the problem with this formula is that it only works for the sequence we have. We need to change a
couple of things to make the formula general, meaning that we can use it for any arithmetic sequence we
will come across. The changes we have to do is the following:

𝑇1 = 𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑

∴ 𝑇𝑛 = 𝑎 + (𝑛 − 1)𝑑

EXAMPLES

1.
2. Consider the following sequence: 3 ;5 ;7 ;9 ;…

a) Calculate the formula for the general term.

b) Determine the value of the 50th term.

3. Consider the following pattern: −5 ; −9 ; −13 ; −17 ; ….

a) Prove that the pattern arithmetic is.

b) Determine the value of the 25th term.

4. Determine which term of the pattern −1 ; 2 ; 5 ; 8 ; … is equal to 80.

5. 𝑥 ; 4𝑥 + 5 ; 10𝑥 − 5 is the first three terms of a arithmetic sequence. Calculate the value of 𝑥 and
hence the pattern.

SOLUTION

1.

2. a)

b)
3. a) 𝑇2 − 𝑇1 = −9— (−5) = −4

𝑇3 − 𝑇2 = −13 − (−9) = −4

∴ 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒

b)

4. PLEASE REMEMBER

To answer the question, we first need to find out what type of pattern or sequence it is. So, we
need to check.

𝑇2 − 𝑇1 = 2 − (−1) = 3

𝒂𝒏𝒅

𝑇3 − 𝑇2 = 5 − 2 = 3

∴𝑑=3

∴ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑠𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒

∴ 𝑎 = −1 , 𝑑 = 3

𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑇𝑛 = 80 (𝑤𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑝 80)

∴ 𝑇𝑛 = 𝑎 + (𝑛 − 1)𝑑

80 = −1 + (𝑛 − 1)(3)

∴ 80 = −1 + 3𝑛 − 3

∴ 84 = 3𝑛

∴ 𝑛 = 28

∴ 𝑇28 = 80

5. Since we are working with an arithmetic sequence we know that the first differences will
always be equal. So we will be using that fact to answer the question.

𝑇2 − 𝑇1 = 𝑇3 − 𝑇2

∴ (4𝑥 + 5) − (𝑥) = (10𝑥 − 5) − (4𝑥 + 5)

3𝑥 + 5 = 6𝑥 − 10
 ∴ −3𝑥 = −15

∴𝑥=5

∴ 𝑇1 = 𝑥 = 5

∴ 𝑇2 = 4𝑥 + 5 = 4(5) + 5 = 25

∴ 𝑇3 = 10𝑥 − 5 = 10(5) − 5 = 45

∴ 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛 𝑖𝑠 5 ; 25 ; 45

EXAM EXAMPLE

The first term of an arithmetic sequence is 5 and the sixth term is 10 times the third term.

 Calculate the constant first difference.

EXAM EXAMPLE SOLUTION

𝑇1 = 𝑎 = 5

𝑇6 = 10 × 𝑇3

𝑇6 = 𝑎 + (𝑛 − 1)𝑑

𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑛 = 6

∴ 𝑎 + (6 − 1)𝑑 = 𝑎 + 5𝑑

𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑎 = 5

∴ 𝑇6 = 5 + 5𝑑

𝑎𝑛𝑑

10 × 𝑇3

∴ 10 × [𝑎 + (𝑛 − 1)𝑑]

𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑛 = 3

∴ 10 × [𝑎 + (3 − 1)𝑑] = 10 × (𝑎 + 2𝑑) = 10𝑎 + 20𝑑

𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑎 = 5

∴ 50 + 20𝑑

∴ 5 + 5𝑑 = 50 + 20𝑑
−45 = 15𝑑

∴ 𝑑 = −3
EXERCISES

4. Calculate the general term for the following AS:

5. Determine the 38th term in the following AS:

6. a) What term in the pattern −5 ; −2 ; 1 ; … is equal to 94

b) What term in the pattern 4 ; 2,5 ; 1 ; … is equal to −66,5

c) How many terms are in the following pattern 12 ; 7 ; 2 ; … ; −203

d) How many terms are in the following pattern −55 ; −48 ; −41 ; … ; 85

7. The following AS is given: −29 ; −23 ; −17 ; …

a) Calculate the 31st term.

b) Which term is equal to 31?

8. The following AS is given: −13 ; −9 ; −5 ; …

a) Which term is equal to 51?

b) Calculate the 51st term.

9. 𝑝 ; 2𝑝 + 2 ; 5𝑝 + 3 ; …. is the first 3 term of a AS

a) Calculate the value of 𝑝

b) Calculate the pattern

c) Calculate the 49th term.

1
d) Which term is equal to 100 2.

10 𝑥 + 3 ; 2𝑥 + 6 ; 3𝑥 + 9 ; … is the first 3 term of a AS

a) Express the 10th term in terms of 𝑥

b) Express the nth term in terms of 𝑥

SOLUTIONS
4 5

6 7
8 9
10