40

Chapter 5
SERIES AND SEQUENCE

For 2000 years, the rice fields od Ifugao have followed the
contours of the mountains. The fruit of knowledge handed down
from one generation to the next, and the expression of sacred
traditions and a delicate social balance, they have helped to create
a landscape of great beauty that expresses the harmony between
humankind and the environment.

Listed as one of the UNESCO World heritage sites since 1995,

the two-millennium-old Rice Terraces of the Philippine
Cordilleras by the Ifugaos is a living testimony of mankind’s
creative engineering to adapt with physically-challenging
environment in nature.
Images credited to www. google.com

Learning Outcomes of the Lesson:

At the ends of the chapter, the student is able to:

1. Illustrate a series;
2. Differentiate a series from a sequence;

Sequences and Series

A sequence is a function whose domain is the set of positive integers or the set {1, 2, 3, …, n}. A
series represents the sum of the terms of a sequence. If a sequence is finite, we will refer to the sum
of the terms of the sequence as the series associated with the sequence. If the sequence has
infinitely many terms, the sum is defined more precisely in calculus.

Arithmetic Sequence. A sequence is said to be arithmetic if each term, after the first, is obtained by adding
the same fixed number, called the common difference, to the preceding term.

The 𝑛𝑡ℎ term of an arithmetic sequence is

𝑎𝑛 = 𝑎1 + (𝑛 − 1) 𝑑

where 𝑎1 is the first term and 𝑑 is the common difference.

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The sum of the first 𝑛𝑡ℎ term of an arithmetic sequence with first term 𝑎1 and nth term 𝑎𝑛 is

𝑛 𝑛
𝑆𝑛 = [2𝑎1 + (𝑛 − 1) 𝑑] and 𝑆𝑛 = (𝑎1 + 𝑎𝑛 )
2 2

Geometric Sequence. A geometric sequence is a sequence in which each term, after the first, is obtained
by multiplying the same fixed number, called the common ratio, by the preceding term.

The 𝑛𝑡ℎ term of a geometric sequence is

𝑎𝑛 = 𝑎1 ∙ 𝑟 𝑛−1

where 𝑎1 is the first term and 𝑟 is the common ratio.

The sum of the first 𝑛 terms is given by

𝑎1 (1−𝑟 𝑛 ) 𝑎1 −𝑟𝑎𝑛
𝑆𝑛 = and 𝑆𝑛 =
1−𝑟 1−𝑟

If −1 < 𝑟 < 1, then the infinite geometric series has a sum given by

𝑎1
𝑆𝑛 =
1−𝑟

Harmonic Sequence. The sequence formed by the reciprocals of the terms of an arithmetic sequence is
called a harmonic sequence.

To determine the 𝑛𝑡ℎ term of a harmonic sequence, we write the corresponding arithmetic sequence,
find the nth term of the arithmetic sequence, and take its reciprocal.

Illustration 31.

a. If the twelfth term of an arithmetic sequence is −21 and the thirty-first term is 36, what is the fifth term?
b. Find the sum of all the positive odd integers less than 881.
c. Find the value of 𝑥 so that 2𝑥, 3𝑥 + 7, and 5𝑥 + 1 will form an arithmetic sequence.

Solution:

a) Since 𝑎12 = −21 and 𝑎31 = 36, we can form two arithmetic sequences with 𝑛 = 12 and 𝑛 = 31, respectively

𝑎12 = 𝑎1 + (12 − 1) 𝑑 and 𝑎31 = 𝑎1 + (31 − 1) 𝑑

−21 = 𝑎1 + 11𝑑
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36 = 𝑎1 + 30𝑑

Solving simultaneously,

57 = 19𝑑
𝑑=3

Substituting 𝑑 = 3 to any of the equations, we get

36 = 𝑎1 + 30(3)
𝑎1 = 36 − 90 = −54

Thus, the value of 𝑎5 is

𝑎5 = −54 + (5 − 1)(3) = −54 + 12 = −42

Let us try another way of computing for 𝑑. Assume that 𝑎1 = 𝑎12 = −21 and 𝑎20 = 𝑎31 = 36, then

𝑎20 = 𝑎1 + (20 − 1) 𝑑
36 = −21 + 19𝑑
19𝑑 = 57
𝑑=3

b) The positive odd integers less than 881 form the arithmetic sequence 1, 3, 5, …, 877, 879

𝑆𝑛 = 1 + 3 + 5 + ⋯ + 877 + 879 𝑎1 = 1, 𝑑 = 2, 𝑛 = 440, 𝑎440 = 879

440
𝑆𝑛 = (1 + 879) Simplify.
2

𝑆𝑛 = 193,600

c) 𝑥 + 7 − 2𝑥 = (5𝑥 + 1) − (3𝑥 + 7)
𝑥 + 7 = 2𝑥 − 6
𝑥 = 13 To check, the sequence is 26, 46, 66

Illustration 32.

a. What are the first three terms of a geometric sequence whose 4th and 7th terms are 1 715 and −588 245,
respectively?
b. Find the geometric mean between 36 and 25.
c. Find the number of terms in the sequence −1, 2, −4, … , 2048.
d. Find y so that 𝑦 + 4, 5𝑦 + 6, and 20𝑦 + 3 form three-term geometric sequence in the given order.
Determine the sequence.
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e. If a town having a population of 5000 in 1984 has a 20% increase every 5 years, what is its
expected population in the year 2004.

Solution:

a) Since 𝑎4 = 1 715 and 𝑎7 = −588 245, we can form two geometric sequences with 𝑛 = 4,

𝑎7 = 𝑎4 ∙ 𝑟 4−1
−588 245 = 1 715 ∙ 𝑟 3
𝑟 3 = −343
𝑟 = −7

Thus, the first term is

𝑎4 = 𝑎1 ∙ 𝑟 4−1
1 715 = 𝑎1 ∙ (−7)3
𝑎1 = 1715/−343 = −5

Thus, the first three terms are −5, 35, and −245.

b) The sequence is 36, GM, 25. The ratio between them must be equal, then

𝐺𝑀 25
= Cross multiply.
36 𝐺𝑀

𝐺𝑀2 = (36)(25) = 900 Extract the root.

𝐺𝑀 = ± 30

c) Since 𝑎1 = −1 and 𝑎𝑛 = 2 048, with 𝑟 = −2, then n can be computed as

𝑎𝑛 = 𝑎1 ∙ 𝑟 𝑛−1
2 048 = −1 ∙ (−2)𝑛−1
(−2)𝑛−1 = −2048 = (−2)10
𝑛 − 1 = 10
𝑛 = 11

d) The sequence: 𝑦 + 4, 5𝑦 + 6, and 20𝑦 + 3

5𝑦+6 20𝑦+3
= Cross multiply.
𝑦+4 5𝑦+6
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(5𝑦 + 6)2 = (20𝑦 + 3)(𝑦 + 4)

25𝑦 2 + 60𝑦 + 36 = 20𝑦 2 + 83𝑦 + 12

5𝑦 2 − 23𝑦 + 24 = 0 Find the roots of the equation.

(5𝑦 − 8)(𝑦 − 3) = 0

𝑦 = 8/5 or 𝑦 = 3

When 𝑦 = 8/5, the sequence of numbers is 28/5, 14, 35; and when y=3, the sequence is 7, 21, 63.

e) Since 𝑎1984 = 𝑎1 = 5 000 and 𝑎2004 = 𝑎5 we can form the geometric sequences with 𝑛 = 5 and 𝑟 = 1.20,

𝑎5 = 𝑎1 ∙ 𝑟 5−1
𝑎5 = 5 000 ∙ (1.20)4 = 10 368

Illustration 33.

a. Find the sum of the sum of the first five term of a geometric sequence whose 𝑎1 = 100 and 𝑎3 = 1?
b. Express the repeating decimal 9.142424242 … as a fraction.
c. What is the eighth term of a harmonic sequence whose second term is 2 and fifth term is −2?

Solution:

a) Since 𝑎1 = 100 and 𝑎3 = −1, solve for 𝑟,

𝑎3 = 𝑎1 ∙ 𝑟 3−1
1 = 100 ∙ 𝑟 2
𝑟 2 = 1/100
𝑟 = ±1/10
When 𝑟 = 1/10,

𝑎1 (1−𝑟 𝑛 ) 100 (1−(0.10)5 ) 100 (0.99999)

𝑆5 = = = = 111.11
1−𝑟 1−0.10 0.90

and when 𝑟 = −1/10,

𝑎1 (1−𝑟 𝑛 ) 100 (1−(−0.10)5 ) 100 (1.00001)

𝑆5 = = = ̅
= 111.112
1−𝑟 1−0.10 0.90

b) The given number can be expressed as 9.1 plus an infinite geometric series with 𝑎1 = 0.042 and 𝑟 = 0.01.
Thus, we can write the decimal as
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𝑎1 0.042 7
𝑆𝑛 = = =
1−𝑟 1−0.01 165

The fractional equivalent of the repeating decimal 9.142424242 is

0.042 7 15 085 3 017

+ = =
1−0.01 165 1 650 330

c) The second and fifth terms of the corresponding arithmetic sequence are 1/2 and −1/2.

𝑎5 = 𝑎2 + ( 4 − 1 ) 𝑑
−1/2 = 1/2 + 3𝑑
3𝑑 = −1
𝑑 = −1/3

𝑎8 = 𝑎5 + (4 − 1) (−1/3) = 𝑎5 − 1
𝑎8 = −1/2 − 1 = − 3/2

Set 9 Exercises.

Read each question carefully and solve what is being required. Show your solution on a separate sheet of paper.

1. Classify each sequence in the following. Write AS if the sequence is an arithmetic sequence, GS if it is a
geometric sequence, HS if it is a harmonic sequence. Then determine the quantities indicated.
a. −5, 4, −16/5, 64/25, ... ; 𝑎9
b. log 3, log 6, log 12, log 24, ... ; 𝑆5
c. 377, 610, 987, 1597, ... ; 𝑎11 and 𝑆9
d. 1/23, 1/17, 1/11, 1/5, ... ; 𝑎19 and 𝑆8
e. √10, 20, 40√10, 800, ... ; 𝑎15 and 𝑆20

2. Find y so that 8𝑦 + 5, 5𝑦 − 4, and 3𝑦 − 1 form an arithmetic sequence in the given order. Determine the
sequence.

3. The sides of a right triangle are in arithmetic progression whose common difference is 6. What is the
measurement of the longest side?

4. Calculate the following sum: −12 + 22 − 32 + 42 − 52 + … − 992 + 1002 .

̅̅̅̅ as a fraction.
5. Express the repeating decimal 3.1464646

6. Insert four geometric means between 5 and −1 215.

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7. The first, fourth and eighth term of an arithmetic sequence are themselves geometric sequence. What is the
common ratio of the geometric sequence?

8. A pendulum swings through an arc of 100 cm on its first swing and each swing after that is 5/6 as long as
the previous swing. How far does the tip of the pendulum travel after 7 swings?

9. Find u such that −1/7, 𝑢, 2/5 is a harmonic sequence.

10. To build a dam, 60 men must work 72 days. If all men are employed at the start but the number is decreased
by 5 men at the end of each 12-day period, how long will it take to complete the dam?

11. In a benefit show, a number of wealthy men agreed that the first one arrived would pay 10 centavos to
enter and each later arrival would pay twice as much as the preceding man. The total amount collected
from all of them was P104 857.50. How many wealthy men had paid?

12. The sum of three numbers in arithmetic progression (A.P) is 45. If 2 is added to the first number, 3 to the
second, and 7 to the third, the new number will be in geometric progression. Find the common difference
in A.P.

13. The geometric mean and the harmonic mean of two numbers are 12 and 36/5 respectively. What are the
numbers?