MATH 102 – Contemporary Mathematics

Contemporary Mathematics
SEQUENCES AND SERIES

ARITHMETIC SEQUENCE is a sequence in which the difference between any two consecutive terms is the same. This
constant difference is called the common difference.
a n=a1 + d(n−1)

Examples:
1. Find the 30th term of the arithmetic progressions 10, 7, 4,…
2. Which term of the sequence 4, 7, 10, … is 52?
3. Given an arithmetic sequence with a 15=38 and d=−3, find a 1.
4. If the first three terms of an arithmetic sequence are 2, 6, and 10, find the 38 th term.

ARITHMETIC SERIES is the indicated sum of the terms of an arithmetic sequence.

n n
Sn= ( a1 + an )= [ 2a 1+ d ( n−1 ) ]
2 2
Examples:
1. Find the sum of all even integers between 5 and 29.
2. The sum of the sequence 1, 8, 15, … is 396. How many terms does the sequence contain?
3. Find the sum of the positive integers less than 150 but greater than 20 that are divisible by 7.

GEOMETRIC SEQUENCE is a sequence of numbers in which each term, after the first, is obtained by multiplying the
preceding number by a constant called the common ratio.
n−1
a n=a1 r

GEOMETRIC SERIES is the indicated sum of the terms of a geometric sequence.

n
a 1 (1−r ) a1−ra n
Sn = =
1−r 1−r

Examples:
1. Find the 10th term of the geometric sequence 3, 9, 27, …
2. Find the sum of the first 10 terms of the series 6 + 18 +54 +162 + …
3. Find the 14th term of the series 5, 10, 20, 40, …
4. The first term of the geometric sequence is 3 and the fourth term is -24. Find the tenth term and the sum of the
first 10 terms.

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