ARITHMETIC AND GEOMETRIC

PROGRESSIONS (APs and GPs)

Lecture
by
J.K. Gondwe

08/13/20 seq2 1
 LECTURE OBJECTIVES

• Understand an AP and a GP
• Work out the common difference of an AP
• Work out the common ratio of a GP
th
• Finding the n term of an AP
th
• Finding the n term of a GP

08/13/20 seq2 2
 ARITHMETIC SEQUENCE/
PROGRESSION (AP)
• Consider the sequences :
1,5,9,13,17,..
12,7,2,-3,-8,-13,.
• Each term of the sequence exceeds the previous by a constant difference
• The sequence1,5,9,13,17,.. can be written as
1, (1  4), (5  4), (9  4), (13  4),
The constant difference is  4 (ie an  an 1 )
• The sequence12,7,2,-3,-8,-13,.can be written as
12, (12 - 5), (7 - 5), (2 - 5), (-3 - 5), (-8 - 5),.
The constant difference is - 5

08/13/20 seq2 3
 Cont’d
• In the sequence 1,5,9,13,17, ..
the first term is 1 and
the common difference is  4
• In the sequence 12,7,2,-3,-8,-13,.
the first term is 12 and
the common difference is - 5
08/13/20 seq2 4
 Cont’d

Defn :
An AP is a sequence of numbers where each term after
the fist is formed by adding a fixed constant.

The fixed constant is called the common difference

and it is denoted by the letter d .

08/13/20 seq2 5
 Cont’d

In general, if the first term of an AP is a and the common

difference of successive terms is d then
• the sequence of an AP is
a,(a  d),(a  2d),(a  3d),(a  4d), ..
• the n th term is a  (n - 1)d
• an AP with n terms can be written as follows
a,(a  d),(a  2d),(a  3d), .,[a  (n-1 )d].

08/13/20 seq2 6
 Examples

Write down the fifth term and the n th term of the

following APs

(a) 1,-1,-3,..

(b) An AP with first term 6, and common difference - 2

08/13/20 seq2 7
 Solution
(a) For the sequence 1,-1,-3,..
a  1 and d  -2
n th term  a  (n - 1)d
5 th term  1  [4  (-2)]
 -7
The n term is a  (n - 1)d
th

 1  (n - 1) (-2)
 3 - 2n
08/13/20 seq2 8
 Solution
For the sequence with
a  6 and d  -2
5th term  6  [4  (-2)]
-2
The n term is a  (n - 1)d
th

 6  (n - 1) (-2)
 8 - 2n
08/13/20 seq2 9
 GEOMETRIC PROGRESSION
(GP)
• Consider the sequences :
1,3,9,27,81, ..
12,-6, 3,.
• Successive terms of the sequence are found by multiplying the
previous term by a common ratio.
• The sequence 1,3,9,27,81, ..can be written as
1, (1 3), (3  3), (9  3), (27  3),
The common ratio is 3 (divide a term by the previous term)
and the sequence 12,-6, 3,.can be written as
12, (12   1 2 ), (-6   1 2 ),...............
The common ratio is - 1 2

08/13/20 seq2 10
 Cont’d
• In the sequence 1,3,9,27,81, ..
the first term is 1 and
the common ratio is 3
• In the sequence 12,-6, 3, ., .
the first term is 12 and
the common ratio is - 1 2
08/13/20 seq2 11
 GP- defn

A GP is a sequence of numbers where

each term after the first is found by
multiplying the previous by a fixed
constant.
The fixed constant is called the common
ratio and it is represented by the letter r.
08/13/20 seq2 12
 Cont’d
In general, if the first term of a GP is a
and the common ratio is r then
• the sequence of a GP is as follows :
a, ar, ar , ar , ar , .
2 3 4

th n -1
• the n term is ar
• A GP with n terms can be written as follows
a, ar, ar , ar , ar , ar
2 3 4 n -1

08/13/20 seq2 13
 Example

Find the fifth term of a GP with first term 2

and common ratio 3

08/13/20 seq2 14
 Solution

Given a  2 and r  3
n term  ar
th n -1

5 term  2(3)
th 4

 162

08/13/20 seq2 15
 Exercise
1. The sum of the first two terms of a
geometrical progression is 3, and the sum
of the second and third terms is -6.
Find the first term and the common ratio.

2. The three numbers n-2, n, n+3, are

consecutive numbers of a geometrical
progression.
Find n and the term after n+3.
08/13/20 seq2 16
 Solutions

1. -3, -2
2. 6, 13.5

08/13/20 seq2 17