Geometric Sequence

Geometric Sequence
- A sequence in which each term in the sequence is found by multiplying the previous term by a number r, so that
An + 1 = r • An • r is called the common ratio
𝑨𝒏 𝟏 𝑨𝟐
r= 𝑨𝟐
𝒐𝒓 𝒓 = 𝑨𝟏

Example: 20, 40, 80, 160,…

𝑨𝟐 𝟒𝟎
r= = =𝟐
𝑨𝟏 𝟐𝟎

Find the common ratio

1) 1 , 2 , 4 , 8 , 16,… 2) 1 , -3 , 9 , -27,… 3) 40, 20 , 10 , 5,…
𝑨𝟐 𝟐 𝑨𝟐 𝟑 𝑨𝟐 𝟐𝟎 𝟏
r= = = 2 r = 𝑨𝟏 = 𝟏
= −𝟑 r= = =
𝑨𝟏 𝟏 𝑨𝟏 𝟒𝟎 𝟐

4) 1 , - , , - ,...
𝟏
𝑨𝟐 𝟏
r= = 𝟐
=-
𝑨𝟏 𝟏 𝟐

Solve
1) Write the first five geometric terms if r = 2, A1 = 5
5, __ , __ , __ , __ , …
A1 A2 A3 A4 A5
5, 10, 20, 40, 80,…
A1 A2 A3 A4 A 5
A2 = 5 • r = 5 • 2 = 10
A3 = 10 • r = 10 • 2 = 20 ∴ The first five geometric terms are 5, 10, 20, 40, 80,…
A4 = 20 • r = 20 • 2 = 40
A5 = 40 • r = 40 • 2 = 80
2) Find the first five geometric terms if r = -5, A5 = 1125
__, __, __, __, 1125
A1 A2 A3 A4 A5
, -9, 45, -225, 1125,…
A4 = = −225 A1 A2 A3 A4 A5

A3 = = 45 ∴ The first five geometric terms are , −9, 45, −225, 1125, …

A2 = = -9

A1 = =