Geometric Sequence and Series

A sequence in which the ratio between

successive terms is a constant is called
geometric sequence. The constant is
referred to as common ratio, denoted 𝒓.
𝟑𝟐, 𝟏𝟔, 𝟖, 𝟒
To find the common ratio of a geometric
sequence, divide any term following
“𝑛𝑡ℎ term divided by the preceding term”.
𝟏
𝑟 = 𝑎! /𝑎!"# 𝑟 = 16/32 𝒓=
𝟐
 𝟑𝟐, 𝟏𝟔, 𝟖, 𝟒
To find the next term of the sequence,
multiply the given term by the common ratio

#
Next three terms are 2, 1,
&
While the rate of change in arithmetic
sequence is constant, the rate of change in
geometric sequence can either increase or
decrease.
Arithmetic Geometric
#
-5, 8, 21, 34 500, 100, 20,
'
Determine the common ratio and find the
next three terms of each geometric
sequence.
#
a. 8, −2,
&
b. 𝑤 + 3, 2𝑤 + 6, 4𝑤 + 12
c. 4, 11, 30.25
d. 64𝑟 − 128, −16𝑟 + 32, 4𝑟 − 8
Determine the common ratio and find the
next three terms of each geometric
sequence.
# #
a. 8, −2, , 𝑟=−
& '
# # #
− , ,−
( )& #&(
b. 𝑤 + 3, 2𝑤 + 6, 4𝑤 + 12, 𝑟=2

8w + 24, 16w + 48, 32w + 96

Determine the common ratio and find the
next three terms of each geometric
sequence.
##
c. 4, 11, 30.25, 𝑟=
'
83.1875, 228.765625, 629.10546875
!
d. 64𝑟 − 128, −16𝑟 + 32, 4𝑟 − 8, 𝑟 = −"
𝑟−2 −𝑟 + 2
−𝑟 + 2, ,
4 16
 *+
The 𝑛 term of a geometric sequence with first
term 𝑎! and a common ratio 𝑟 is given by

𝒏%𝟏
𝒂𝒏 = 𝒂𝟏 . 𝒓

Example :
The 9&' term of 2, 10, 50, … is
(%!
𝑎( = 2 . 5
𝑎( = 781 250
Write an explicit and recursive formula for
finding the nth term of the geometric sequence
given by
!
a. 8, -2, ), …

b. 2, 25, 312.5, …
Write an explicit and recursive formula for finding
the nth term of the geometric sequence given by
! !
a. 8, -2, ), … 𝑟 = −" 𝑎! = 8

Explicit formula
𝑎* = 𝑎! . 𝑟 *%!
! *%!
𝑎* = 8 . −
"
Write an explicit and recursive formula for finding
the nth term of the geometric sequence given by
! !
a. 8, -2, ), … 𝑟 = −" 𝑎! = 8
recursive formula
We state the first term. Then indicate that the next term is the
PRODUCT of the PREVIOUS term 𝑎!"# and 𝑟
Write an explicit and recursive formula for finding
the nth term of the geometric sequence given by
!
a. 8, -2, ), …

b. 2, 25, 312.5, …
Exercise:
a. Find the 27th term of the sequence 189,
151.2, 120.96,…
b. Find 𝑎( for 4, 14, 49,…
c. Find 𝑎!) if 𝑎+ = 32 and 𝑟 = −4
Exercise:
a. Find the 27th term of the sequence 189,
151.2, 120.96,…
b. Find 𝑎( for 4, 14, 49,…
c. Find 𝑎!) if 𝑎+ = 32 and 𝑟 = −4
Answers:
,-."/0!
a. 0.57 b. c. −8388608
."
Write a sequence that has two geometric
means between 480 and -7.5

480, ___, ___, -7.5

Exercise:
Find the geometric means for each pair of
nonconsecutive terms.
a. −4 and 13.5 ; 2 means
b. 10 and 0.016 ; 3 means
Word Problem:
1. Damian purchased a late-model car for
PhP 150 000. At the end of each year, the
value of the car depreciates 11%.
a. Write an explicit formula for the value of
Damian’s car after 𝑛 years
b. What is the value of Damian’s car at the end of
the seventh year?
Word Problem:
2. Melina receives a chain e-mail that she
forwards to 7 of her friends. Each of her
friends forwards it to 7 of their friends.
a. Write an explicit formula for the pattern
b. How many will receive the e-mail on
Melina’s 6th forwards?
3. In 2013, the number of students in a small
school is 284. It is estimated that the
population will increase by 4% each year.
a. Write the explicit formula for the student
population
b. Estimate the student population in 2020
4. A business starts a new website. Initially
the number of hits is 293 due to curiosity
factor. The business estimates the number of
hits will increase by 2.6% per week.
a. write a formula for the number of hits
b. Estimate the number of hits in 5 weeks
Geometric Series
A geometric series is the sum of the terms of
a geometric sequence
Sequence Series
2, 4, 8, 16, 32 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32
1 1
27, 9, 3, 1, 27 + 9 + 3 + 1 +
3 3
𝑎! , 𝑎) , 𝑎+ , 𝑎" , … 𝑎* 𝑎! + 𝑎) + 𝑎+ + 𝑎" , … +𝑎*
Sum of a Finite Geometric Series
A geometric series is the sum of the terms of
a geometric sequence
!
1−𝑟
𝑆! = 𝑎#
1−𝑟

𝑎# − 𝑎! 𝑟
𝑆! =
1−𝑟
Example:
a. Find the sum of the first six terms of the
geometric series 8 + 14 + 24.5 + ⋯

b. Find the sum of the first 𝑛 terms of a

geometric series with 𝑎# = 3, 𝑎! = 768, and
𝑟 = −2
c.
Sum of a Infinite Geometric Series
𝒂𝟏
𝑺𝒏 = 𝒓 <𝟏
𝟏"𝒓
Where:
𝑎# is the first term
𝑟 is the common ratio
If 𝒓 ≥ 𝟏, then the infinite series DOES NOT
have a sum
Example:
If possible, find the sum of each infinite
geometric series
a. 9 + 3 + 1 + ⋯
b. 0.25 + −1.25 + 6.25 + ⋯
c.
Example:
a. 9 + 3 + 1 + ⋯
The sequence
#
𝑟 = )
𝑎# = 9 is
/" CONVERGENT
𝑆! =
#"0
1
𝑆! = "
Approaches a finite value
#"( )
#
𝑟 < 1; the sum of the
𝑆! = 13.5 geometric series EXIST
b. 0.25 + −1.25 + 6.25 + ⋯
The sequence
is
DIVERGENT

𝑟 = −5 𝑎# = 0.25

𝑟 ≥ 1; the sum of the geometric

series DOES NOT EXIST
Example:
The sequence is
c. CONVERGENT

𝑟 = 0.2 𝑎# = 0.032
1!
𝑆* = !%2 𝑟 < 1; the sum of the
geometric series EXIST
0.0+)
𝑆* =
!%0.)

𝑆! = 0.04
Word Problem

Melina receives a chain e-mail that she

forwards to 7 of her friends. Each of her
friends forwards it to 7 of their friends.
How many in total will receive the e-mail
after 6th forwards?
2. A business starts a new website. Initially
the number of hits is 293 due to curiosity
factor. The business estimates the number of
hits will increase by 2.6% per week.
a. Estimate the total hits in 6
months(approximately 4 week per month)
b. In how many months will it reach a total
hits of at least 5700 hits?