TOPIC

Sequences and Series

OBJECTIVES
Define sequences and identify the different kinds of
sequences.
Find the nth term or the general term of a sequence for
which some initial terms are given.
Find the common difference of an arithmetic sequence.
Find the common ratio of a geometric sequence.
Find arithmetic means, harmonic means and geometric
means.
Find the sum of a finite arithmetic sequence, harmonic
sequence and geometric sequence.
Find the sum of an infinite geometric sequence.

Definition:
Definition:
SEQUENCE
SEQUENCE
AAsequence
sequenceor
or progression
progression isis aalist
listof
of objects,
objects, events
events or
or
numbers
numbersin
in aadefinite
definite order
order of
of occurrence.
occurrence. Each
Eachmember
member
of
ofaasequence
sequenceisiscalled
calledaa term.
term. AA sequence
sequenceisis said
saidto
tobe
be
finite
finite ifif ititcontains
containsfinite
finitenumber
number of
of terms.
terms.An
An infinite
infinite
sequence
sequenceisisone
onehaving
havinginfinite
infinitenumber
number of
of terms,
terms, thus,
thus,the
the
last
lastterm
term isisnot
not indicated.
indicated.The
Thenotation
notation,, aann,, represents
representsthe
the
nth
nthterm
term or
or the
thegeneral
generalterm
term of
of the
thesequence.
sequence.

Example: The following represent a sequence:

a. 2, 4, 6, 8
b. 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21,
c. 1, 3, 9, 27,

Definition
Definition
ARITHMETIC
ARITHMETICSEQUENCE
SEQUENCE
An
An arithmetic
arithmeticsequence
sequence isisaa sequence
sequencein
inwhich
whichthe
the
difference
difference between
betweentwo
two successive
successiveterms
termsisisconstant.
constant.This
This
difference
difference ,, d,
d, isiscalled
calledthe
the common
common difference.
difference.
For any arithmetic sequence in which an is the general term, a1
is the first term, and n is a positive integer.

an a1 n 1 d

an 1 an d

d an 1 an

or

The first and last terms of the sequence are called arithmetic
extremes.
The terms in between are called arithmetic means.
The arithmetic mean between an -1 and an is defined by an 1 an
2
The arithmetic mean of n terms is

an an1 ... a2 a1
n

Example

1. Given the sequence 1, -4, -9, , list the next three terms and write a formula
for the nth term .
ans. -14, -19,
-24
a 5n 6
n

2. Insert three arithmetic means between 6 and -6.

ans.

3, 0, -3

3. In the arithmetic sequence 9, -2, 5, , which term is 131?

ans. n = 21
4.The last term of an arithmetic sequence is 207, the common difference is 3,
and the number of terms is 14. What is the first term of the sequence?
ans. 168
5.The fifth term of an arithmetic sequence is 3 and the fifteenth term is 8.
What is the general term of the sequence?
ans.

1
1
an n
2
2

Definition
Definition
Sum
Sumof
ofthe
theFirst
First nnTerms
Termsof
ofan
anArithmetic
ArithmeticSequence
Sequence
The
Thesum
sum of
of the
thefirst
firstnnterms
termsof
ofan
anarithmetic
arithmeticsequence
sequenceisisgiven
given
by:
by:

n
Sn a1 an
2

or

n
Sn 2a1 n 1 d
2

EXAMPLE
1.Find the sum of the positive even integers up to and
including 350.
ans. 30, 800
2. For an arithmetic series with a1 11, S n 32,
is -5, find d and n.
4

and fourth term

ans. d = 2; n =

3. The balcony of a theater has 12 rows of seats. The last row

contains 8 seats, and each of the other rows contains one
more seat than the row behind it. How many seats are there in
the balcony?
ans.
162
4. The sum of the progression 5, 8, 11, 14, is 1025. How
many terms are there?
ans. 25

Definition:
Definition:
HARMONIC
HARMONICSEQUENCE
SEQUENCE
Harmonic
Harmonic sequence
sequence isis aa sequence
sequence formed
formed by
by the
the reciprocals
reciprocals of
of
the
the terms
terms of
of an
an arithmetic
arithmetic sequence.
sequence. The
The terms
terms between
between any
any two
two
terms
terms of
of aa harmonic
harmonic sequence
sequence are
are called
called harmonic
harmonic means.
means. To
To
find
find the
the nth
nth term
term of
of aa harmonic
harmonic sequence
sequence ,, first
first write
write the
the
corresponding
corresponding arithmetic
arithmetic sequence.
sequence. Second,
Second, determine
determine the
the nth
nth
term
term of
ofthe
thearithmetic
arithmeticsequence.
sequence.Lastly,
Lastly,take
takeits
itsreciprocal.
reciprocal.
Example

1 1 1
1
'
,
,...
1.What is the ninth term of the harmonic progression
? ans.
6 10 14
38

1
1
,
2. What is the value of k so that the terms
3k 1 1 2k

form a harmonic sequence?

ans.

1
and
2k 5
8
9

Definition:
Definition:
GEOMETRIC
GEOMETRICSEQUENCE
SEQUENCE
AAgeometric
geometric sequence
sequence isis aa sequence
sequence in
in which
which the
the ratio
ratio
of
of any
any two
two consecutive
consecutive terms
terms isis constant.
constant. This
This constant
constant
isiscalled
calledthe
the common
common ratio,
ratio,denoted
denotedby
by r.r.
The
Thenth
nthterm
term of
of aageometric
geometricsequence
sequenceisis given
givenby
by
an1
n 1
an1 anr
or
r
an a1r
an
AA single
single geometric
geometric mean
mean between
between two
two numbers
numbers isis called
called
the
the geometric
geometricmean,
mean,or
or the
the mean
meanproportional
proportional given
givenby
by

an 1an

EXAMPLE

1. The third term of a geometric sequence is 32 and the

fifth term is 128. Find the first term and the common
ratio.
ans. a1 8,
r = 2 or -2
2.What is the mean proportional between 15 and 60?
ans. 30
3. The fourth term of a geometric sequence is 10 and the
sixth term is -40. What is the ninth term of the
sequence?
ans. -320
4. KT Airlines passenger load has been increasing by
12 % annually. In 2000 they carried 20,500
passengers. How many passengers should they expect
to carry in 2010?
ans. 63,670

Definition:
Definition:
Sum
Sumof
of the
theFirst
First nth
nthterms
termsof
of aaFinite
FiniteGeometric
GeometricSequence
Sequence
The
The sum
sum of
of the
the first
first nth
nth terms
terms of
of aa finite
finite geometric
geometric sequence
sequence isis
given
givenby
by
a1 1 r n
a1 ran
Sn

1 r

or

Sn

1 r

r 1

EXAMPLE
1. If S8 2040 and the common ratio is 2, what is S6 ?
ans.
504
2. A piece of paper is 0.05 in thick. Each time the paper is
folded into half, the thickness is doubled. If the paper was folded
12 times, how thick in feet the folded paper will be?
ans. 17.06

Definition
Definition::
Infinite
InfiniteGeometric
GeometricSeries
Series
The
Thesum
sum of
of aaconvergent
convergentinfinite
infinitegeometric
geometricseries
series isis given
givenby
by
a1
S
for
1 r

r 1

EXAMPLE
1. Find the sum of the infinite geometric progression 36, 24, 16,
ans.
108
2. A rubber ball rebounds

3
of its height. If it is initially 30 ft high,
5

what total vertical distance does it travel before coming to rest?

ans.
75

OTHER EXAMPLE
You visit the Grand Canyon and drop a penny off the
edge of a cliff. The distance the penny will fall is 16
feet the first second, 48 feet the next second, 80 feet
the third second, and so on in an arithmetic sequence.
What is the total distance the object will fall in 6
seconds?

Solution
Arithmetic sequence: 16, 48, 80, ...
an a1 n 1 d
The 6thterm is 176. a 16 6 1 32 176
6

Now, we are ready to find the sum:

n a1 an
sn
2
6 16 176
s6
576
2