Sequences and

Series

Sequence

A succession of numbers in a
specific order

Example #1. Find the next three

terms of each sequence:

1.25, 17, 9,
2.0.5, 1.5, 4.5,
3.1, -4, 9, -16,
4.4,5, 9,14,

A sequence is a function whose

domain is the set of natural numbers
or a subset of consecutive positive
integers.

Example #2. Use the functional relation

F(n) = 2n 3 where n is a natural
number, to write an infinite sequence.

Example # 3. Using the consecutive

positive integers

n = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, write the first five

terms of the sequence defined by

Recursive Form of a Sequence

A sequence is said to be in recursive form if the first
term and a recursive formula are given. A recursive
formula is an expression used to determine the nth
term of the sequence by using the term that
precedes it.

Example #4. Find the next two terms in

the given sequence, then write it in
recursive form.
a.7, 12, 17, 22, 27, . . .
b.3, 7, 15, 31, 63, . . .

Example #5. The recursive formula of

a sequence is , where

Explicit Form of a Sequence

The explicit form can be used to find a term
of the sequence by determining its position.
Example #6.Determine the next two terms in
the given sequence. Then, write the explicit
form of the sequence.

1.
2.3, 5, 9, 17, 33, . . .
1, 4, 9, 16, 25, . . .

SERIES
the indicated sum of all the terms of a
sequence
Example #1. Find the indicated value for
each series:
2 + 4 + 6 + 8 + . . . , S
a.
8

(Summation Notation/Sigma

Notation)

Write each in expanded form. Then find its

value
5

1. n 1
n 3
4

2. 2 3
n 0

Express each series in summation

notation.

1.4+8 + 12 + 16 + 20
2.4 +2 + 0 + (-2) + (-4) + (-6)