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CHAPTER 1

ARITHMETIC
AND
GEOMETRIC
SEQUENCES

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1.1 SEQUENCE (PROGRESSION)

 A list of numbers arranged in a specified

order.
 Two sequences namely:
- arithmetic
- geometric

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1.2 ARITHMETIC SEQUENCE

 One in which the difference between any term

and the preceding term is the same
throughout.
 Example:
Arithmetic sequence Common difference
(a) 4, 8, 12, 16, …… 4
(b) ½, 1, 1½, 2, …… ½

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1.3 Nth TERM AND SUM OF FIRST N TERMS

OF AN ARITHMETIC SEQUENCE
 If first term of an arithmetic sequence is a and common
difference is d, then the arithmetic sequence is written
as:
a, a + d, a + 2d, a + 3d, ……
 To find the nth term:
Tn = a + (n – 1)d
where:
Tn = nth term
a = first term
n = number of terms
d = common difference
Sn = n/2 [2a + (n-1)d]

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1.4 GEOMETRIC SEQUENCE

 A sequence of numbers and the ratio between

any term. It is obtained by multiplying the first
term by the ratio to get the second term and so
on.
 The ratio is known as common ratio and can
be obtained by dividing any term by the term
before it.

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 Example:
Geometric sequence Common ratio (r)
(a) 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, …… 2 (4/2) or (8/4)
(b) -3, 6, -12, 24, …… -2 (6/-3) or (-12/6)
(c) 0.1, 0.01, 0.001, …… 0.1(0.01/0.1)

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1.5 Nth TERM AND SUM OF FIRST N TERMS

OF A GEOMETRIC SEQUENCE
If a geometric sequence is a, ar, ar2, ar3,
……, arn-1, thus:

Tn = arn-1
Sn = a(1 – rn) / (1 – r) for r < 1

Sn = a(rn - 1) / (r – 1) for r > 1

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