GEOMETRIC SEQUENCES AND

SERIES
A sequence is geometric if the ratios of consecutive terms are the same.

2, 8, 32, 128, 512, . . .

8 4 geometric sequence
2
32  4
8
The common ratio, r, is 4.
128  4
32
512  4
128
Example 1.
a. Is the sequence geometric? If so, what is r?
2, 4,8,16,...2 n ,...
4 8 16 r2
 2,  2, 2
2 4 8

b. Is the sequence geometric? If so, what is r?

n
1 1 1 1  1
 , ,  , ,...,    ,...
3 9 27 81  3 
1 1 1
 1
9   1 27   1 81   1 r
1 3 1 3 1 3 3
 
3 9 27
The nth term of a geometric sequence has the form
an = a1rn - 1
where r is the common ratio of consecutive terms of the sequence.
r  75  5
15
a1 = 15
15, 75, 375, 1875, . . .
a2 = a3 = a4 =
15(5) 15(52) 15(53)

The nth term is 15(5n-1).

Example 2. Write the first five terms of the geometric sequence whose first term is a1  3
and whose common ratio is r  2.
a1  3
a2  3  2  6
1

a3  3  2  12
2

a4  3  23  24

a5  3  24  48
Example 3. Find the 15th term of the geometric sequence whose first term is 20 and whose
common ration is 1.05.
n 1
an  a1r
a15  20  1.05 
14
 39.599
Example 4. Find a formula for the nth term of the following geometric sequence. What is the
ninth term of the sequence?
5, 15, 45, …

Find the common ratio

15  5  3 45  15  3

an  5  3
n 1

a9  5  3  32,805
8
 125
Example 5. The 4th term of a geometric sequence is 125, and the 10th term is .
64
Find the 14th term. Assume that the terms of the sequence are positive.

10 4
a10  a4 r
125
 125r 6
64
1
 r6
64
1
r
2
4
a14  a10r 4 125  1  125
   
64  2  1024
 The sum of the first n terms of a sequence is
represented by summation notation.
upper limit of summation
n

a  a  a
i 1
i 1 2  a3  a4    an

index of summation lower limit of summation

 4
n1
n
 41
 4 2
 4 3
 4 4
 4 5

 4  16  64  256  1024
 1364
The sum of a finite geometric sequence is given by

 
n
 a1 1  r .
n
S n   a1r i 1

i 1
1 r

5 + 10 + 20 + 40 + 80 + 160 + 320 + 640 = ?

n=8
a1 = 5 r  10  2
5


S n  a1 1 
1 r 
r n
5 1 
1 2
28
  1 2 1 
 5 1  256  5 255  1275 
 12

 4  0.3
n
Example 6. Find the sum
n1

Write out a few terms.

12

 4  0.3  4  0.3  4  0.3  4  0.3  ...  4  0.3

n 1 2 3 12

n1
a1  4  0.3  r  0.3 and n  12

12
 1 rn 
 4  0.3  a1 
n

n 1  1  r 
1   0.3 12 
 4  0.3    1.714
 1  0.3 
If the index began at i = 0, you would have to adjust your formula
12 12 n 12 n

 4  0.3  4  0.3   4  0.3   4   4  0.3  4  1.714  5.714

n 0

i 0 n1 n1
Infinite Geometric Series
An infinite geometric series is a seri
es
of the form
•
a + ar + ar2 + ar3 + ar4 + . . . + arn–1
+ . . .

We can apply the reasoning used earlier to

find the sum of an infinite geometric serie
s.
Infinite Geometric Series
The nth partial sum of such a seri
es
is given  by:
r≠1

It can be shown that, if | r | < 1, rn gets c

lose
to 0 as n gets large.
You can easily convince yourself of this
Sum of an Infinite Geometric Series
If | r | < 1, then the infinite geometr
ic series


 ar
k 1
k 1
 a  ar  ar  ar  . . .
2 3

converges and has the

a sum
S
1 r

If | r |  1, the series diverges.

Determine whether the infinite geometric series is convergent or divergent
. If it is convergent, find its sum.

2 2 2
(a) 2     
5 25 125
2 3
7 7 7
(b) 1           
5 5 5

A is an infinite geometric series with a = 2 and r = 1/5.

1 2 5
r   1, the series converges. S 
5 1 5 2
1
Determine whether the infinite geometric series is convergent or divergent
. If it is convergent, find its sum.

2 2 2
(a) 2     
5 25 125
2 3
7 7 7
(b) 1           
5 5 5

This is an infinite geometric series with a = 1 and r = 7/5.

7
r   1, the series diverges.
5