MATH HL

TEST
SEQUENCES
by Christos Nikolaidis

Marks:____/100
Name:____________________________________

Date:________________ Grade: ______

Questions
1. [Maximum mark: 8]
In an arithmetic sequence, the fifth term is 27, the sixteenth term is 115, while the
n-th term is 155. Find
(a) The value of n [5 marks]
(b) The sum of the first n-1 terms. [3 marks]

2. [Maximum mark: 8]
3 9 27
Let S = 1 + + 2 + 3 + L . Calculate
k k k
(a) the value of k given that S = 4 [5 marks]
(b) the possible values of k given that the infinite series S diverges. [3 marks]

3. [Maximum mark: 6]
(a) Calculate the sum
7 + 10 + 13 + 16 + L + 157 [4 marks]
(b) Find
51

∑ (3r + 4)
r =1 [2 marks]

4. [Maximum mark: 6]
The third term of a geometric sequence is -108 and the sixth term is 32.
Find
(a) The common ratio [3 marks]
(b) The first term [1 mark]
(c) The sum to infinity [2 marks]

5. [Maximum mark: 10]

A sum of 2500 is invested at a compound interest rate of 5% per year. Find
(a) the value of the investment at the end of the 7th year if the amount
is compounded
i. yearly ii. semiannually iii. quarterly [6 marks]
(b) the maximum number n of full years before the investment exceeds
5000, if the amount is compounded yearly. [4 marks]
6. [Maximum mark: 10]
The sum of the first n terms of a series is given by
+
S n = 3 n − 1 where n ∈ .
(a) Find the first three terms of the series. [4 marks]
(b) Find the nth term of the series in terms of n. [4 marks]
(c) Show that the sequence is geometric. [2 marks]

7. [Maximum mark: 6]
The first and the third terms of an arithmetic sequence are a and b respectively.
The sum of the first n terms is denoted by S n .
(a) Find S 4 in terms of a and b. [3 marks]
(b) Given that S 4 , S 5 , S 7 are consecutive terms of a geometric sequence show
that
7 a 2 = 13b 2 [3 marks]

8. [Maximum mark: 6]
Given α , β ∈ R , α < 1 and β < 1 , and
A = 1+α +α 2 +α 3 +L

B = 1+ β + β 2 + β 3 +L

show that
AB
1 + αβ + α 2 β 2 + α 3 β 3 + L = [6 marks]
A + B −1

9. [Maximum mark: 10]

An arithmetic sequence has first term a and a common difference d.
The 3rd, 4th and 7th terms of the arithmetic sequence are the first three
terms of a geometric sequence.
3
(a) Show that a = − d . [4 marks]
2
(b) Find the common ratio of the geometric sequence. [3 marks]
(c) Show that the 4th term of the geometric sequence is the 16th term of the
arithmetic sequence. [3 marks]
10. [Maximum mark: 15]
A sequence {un} is defined recursively as follows
u1 = 10 , u n +1 = 2u n − 5
(a) Find the first four terms of the sequence. [3 marks]
(b) Find S4 [1 mark]

A new sequence {vn} is defined by v n = u n +1 − u n

(c) Write down the first four terms of the new sequence. [2 marks]
v
(d) Show that n +1 = 2 for any +. What do you deduce? [4 marks]
vn
(e) Find a general formula for vn and hence a general formula
for un in terms of n. [5 marks]

11. [Maximum mark: 13]

Consider the sequence of natural numbers grouped in the following way:

(1), (2,3,4,5), (6,7,8,…,12), (13,14,…,22), ...

(a) Find the number of elements of the 3rd and of the 4th group. [2 marks]
(b) Find the number of elements in the nth group, in terms of n. [2 marks]
(c) Show that last term of the nth group is given by
n
(3n − 1) [4 marks]
2
(d) Show that the sum of the terms in the nth group is given by
2 n2 + 1
(3n − 2){(n − 1) + }
2 [5 marks]