Sequence and Series

Review on the Application of

Logarithm
Example: The formula (t in
years) is used to estimate the age of
organic material. The ratio of carbon 14 to
carbon 12 in a piece of charcoal found at
an archaeological dig is . How
old is it?
Example: The formula (t in years) is used to estimate the age of
organic material. The ratio of carbon 14 to carbon 12 in a piece of charcoal found
at an archaeological dig is . How old is it?

original equation

multiply both sides by 1012

take the natural log of both sides

inverse property

To the nearest thousand years the charcoal is 57,000 years old.

Sequence and Series
 Objectives:
Define a sequence;
Differentiate between finite and infinite
sequences;
Use mathematical terms to describe
sequences;
Find the sequence function/rule for a given
sequence, and;
Find a particular term or the nth term in a
given sequence.
Here is a sequence of objects

What animal would come

next in this sequence?

Correct! It would be a
mouse.
Here is a sequence of letters.

a a b c a a b c a a b c a

Correct!
It‘s the letter a.
What letter will
come next in
the sequence? Look carefully at
the letters.
Here is a sequence of numbers.

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

What number is going

to come next in this
Correct it is sequence?
the number

18
Tip! To find the next number in a
number sequence:
•Look at all of the numbers in the
sequence
•Find the pattern
Decide what number should come next

•Put your number into the sequence and

check that it looks correct
Activity:

and finish these number

sequences.
 Look at the number
sequences and see if you
can work out the missing
number.
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17

It is the number 11.

Find the number!

Find the number!

0 5 10 15
____ 20 25 30 35 40

Correct! It is the
number 15.
Correct! It is the number 11.

17 15 13 11
____ 9 7 5 3

Find the number!

 Find the number!

25 35 45 ___
55 65 75

Correct!
It is the number
55.
34 44 54 64 74
___ 84 94
Correct!
The missing number is 74.

Now race on to
the last number
sequence.

Find the number!

 Solving this sequence is going
to be a bit trickier.

42 47 ___
52 57 62 ___
67 72 ___
77 82

The answers are:52, 67 and 77

You have to find all

three missing numbers!
Total your Score…
Sequences
In mathematics, a sequence is a succession of
numbers, called terms, that follow a given rule. For
example: 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, …
is a sequence of square numbers starting with 9.
A sequence can be infinite, as shown by the … at the
end of the sequence shown above, or it can be finite.
For example: 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96
is a finite sequence containing six terms.
A sequence can be defined by:
a formula for the nth term of the sequence, or
a recurrence relation together with the first term
of the sequence.
What is a sequence?
A collections of objects that is ordered so
that there is a 1st, 2nd, 3rd,… member.
What is the difference between finite
and infinite?
Finite means there is a last term. Infinite
means the sequence continues without
stopping.
An Infinite Sequence is a sequence that
goes on forever.
Finite Sequence

A sequence is finite if it has a limited

number of terms.
To represent a sequence that is finite but
of some undetermined length, we write it
as, a1,a2 ,a3 ,… aN
where N represents the fixed, but not
explicitly specified length.
 Sequence:
• A function whose domain is a set of consecutive
integers (list of ordered numbers separated by
commas).
• Each number in the list is called a term.
• For Example:
Sequence 1 Sequence 2
2,4,6,8,10 2,4,6,8,10,…

Term 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Term 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Domain – relative position of each term (1,2,3,4,5)
Usually begins with position 1 unless otherwise
stated.
Range – the actual “terms” of the sequence
(2,4,6,8,10)
 Sequence 1 Sequence 2
2,4,6,8,10 2,4,6,8,10,…

A sequence can be finite or infinite.

The sequence has a The sequence continues
last term or final without stopping.
term.
(such as seq. 2)
(such as seq. 1)
Both sequences have an equation or general rule: an =
2n where n is the term # and an is the nth term.
The general rule can also be written in function notation:
f(n) = 2n
The formula for the nth term
The nth term, or the general term, of a sequence is
often given using superscript (or suffix) notation as un.
The 1st term is then called u1,
the 2nd term is u2,
the 3rd term is u3,
the 4th term is u4,
the 5th term is u5 and so on.
Letters other than u can be used. For example, the
terms in a sequence could also be given by t1, t2, t3, t4,
… tn.
Any term in a sequence can be found by substituting
its position number into a given formula for un.
The formula for the nth term
For example, the formula for the nth term
of a sequence is given by un = 4n – 5.
Find the first five terms in the sequence.
u1 = 4 × 1 – 5 = –1
u2 = 4 × 2 – 5 = 3
u3 = 4 × 3 – 5 = 7
u4 = 4 × 4 – 5 = 11
u5 = 4 × 5 – 5 = 15

The first five terms in the sequence are: –1,

3, 7, 11 and 15.
The numbers in sequences are called terms.

You can think of a sequence as

a function whose domain is a set
of consecutive integers. If a
domain is not specified, it is
understood that the domain
starts with 1.
 n
DOMAIN: 1 2 3 4 5 The domain gives
the relative position
of each term.

an
RANGE: 3 6 9 12 15 The range gives the
terms of the sequence
This is a finite sequence having the rule
an = 3n,
where an represents the nth term of the sequence.
Write the first six terms of the
sequence an = 2n + 3.
SOLUTION

a 1 = 2(1) + 3 = 5 1st term

a 2 = 2(2) + 3 = 7 2nd term

a 3 = 2(3) + 3 = 9 3rd term

a 4 = 2(4) + 3 = 11 4th term

a 5 = 2(5) + 3 = 13 5th term

a 6 = 2(6) + 3 = 15 6th term

Seatwork: NB

1. Write the first six terms of the

n–1
sequence f (n) = (–2) .

2. Find the first 4 terms and the 9th

term of the sequence whose general
term is given by an = 4(2)n.
Time is UP!
Write the first six terms of the sequence f (n) = (–2) n – 1 .
SOLUTION

f (1) = (–2) 1 – 1 = 1 1st term

f (2) = (–2) 2 – 1 = –2 2nd term

f (3) = (–2) 3 – 1 = 4 3rd term

f (4) = (–2) 4 – 1 = – 8 4th term

f (5) = (–2) 5 – 1 = 16 5th term

f (6) = (–2) 6 – 1 = – 32 6th term

Example
 Find the first 4 terms and the 9th term of the sequence whose
general term is given by an = 4(2)n.
Solution: We have an = 4(2)n, so

a1 = 4(2)1 = 8
a2 = 4(2)2 = 16
a3 = 4(2)3 = 32
a4 = 4(2)4 = 64

a9 = 4(2)9 = 2048

The power (2)n causes the sign of the terms to alternate

between positive and negative, depending on whether the n is
even or odd. This kind of sequence is called an alternating
sequence.
I. Identify if the given sequence is
Finite or Infinite. (Even-numbered
items are graded.)

1. {0 , 2, 4, 6}
2. {2, 4, 6, …, 98, 100}
3. {1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, …}
4. {1, 4, 1, 5, 9, 2, …}
5. {1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1}
 II. Write a rule for the nth term.

2 2 2 2
a. , , , ,...
5 25 125 625

b. 3,5,7,9,...
 II. Write a rule for the nth term.

2 2 2 2
a. , , , ,... b. 3,5,7,9,...
5 25 125 625

 

2 2 2 2
1
, 2 , 3 , 4 ,...
5 5 5 5
Recurrence relations
This sequence can also be defined by a recurrence
relation.
To define a sequence using a recurrence relation we
need the value of the first term and an expression
relating each term to a previous term.
For the sequence –1, 3, 7, 11, 15, …, each term can
be found by adding 4 to the previous term.
We can write: u1 = –1
u2 = u1 + 4 = 3
u3 = u2 + 4 = 7
u4 = u3 + 4 = 11 and so on.
In general: un+1 = un + 4
Recurrence relations
A recurrence relation together with the first term of a
sequence is called an inductive definition.
So the inductive definition for the sequence –1, 3, 7,
11, 15, … is u1 = –1, un+1 = un + 4.
A sequence is given by the recurrence relation un+1
= 2un + 1 with u1 = 3. Write down the first five terms
of the sequence.
u1 = 3
u2 = (2 × 3) + 1 = 7
u3 = (2 × 7) + 1 = 15
u4 = (2 × 15) + 1 = 31
u5 = (2 × 31) + 1 = 63
So the first five terms in the sequence are 3, 7, 15, 31
and 63.
 Exercises: NB

1. Write the first six terms of f (n) = (– 3)n – 1

2. Write the first six terms of an = 5 – n
3. Write the first six terms of an = 2n
Answers…
1. Write the first six terms of f (n) = (– 3)n – 1.

f (1) = (– 3)1 – 1 = 1 1st term

f (2) = (–3)2 – 1 = –3 2nd term

f (3) = (– 3)3 – 1 = 9 3rd term

f (4) = (– 3)4 – 1 = – 27 4th term
f (5) = (– 3)5 – 1 = 81 5th term
f (6) = (– 3)6 – 1 = – 243 6th term

You are just substituting numbers into the equation to

get your term.
 Numbers 3 and 4:


 4. Write a rule for the nth term.

2 2 2 2
a. , , , ,... b. 3,5,7,9,...
5 25 125 625

 

2 2 2 2
1
, 2 , 3 , 4 ,...
5 5 5 5
Assignment: NB
1. Write a rule for the nth term.
2, 6, 12, 20,…
2. Find the rule to compute for the nth
term and use this rule to find the 25th
term in the sequence {5, 8, 11, 14, …}
Solution: Write a rule for the nth term.

Think: