MCR3U

Arithmetic Series

Definition: A is the sum of the terms of a sequence. An

is the sum of the terms of an arithmetic sequence.

Notation: Sn is used to indicate the sum of the first n terms in a sequence.

i.e. Sn=t 1 +t 2+t 3 +…+t n

Consider the example of the sum of the numbers from 1 to 100.

We could also write this same series in reverse order.

If we add both series together, we would see the following:

We will use this same technique on the general arithmetic series to derive an explicit formula
for the sum of an arithmetic series.

In general,

Reversing the sum, we have:

Now adding the two sums together, we see:

MCR3U
Ms. Naim
Arithmetic Series

There is an alternative version of the formula, which can sometimes simplify your work.
Consider the general term for an arithmetic sequence t n=a+ ( n−1 ) d

If we rearrange the formula for Sn slightly, we find:

Example 1: Find the sum of the first 40 terms of the following:

a) 3+11+19+27+ … b) 57+51+ 45+39+…

Example 2: Find the sum of 4 +15+26+ …+213.