7) C2 Geometric Sequences and Series

• L.
O: To be able to
• Find the common ratio in Geometric
Sequences
• Find the nth term of a Geometric sequence
Introduction
• We have looked at Arithmetic Sequences, where the
pattern is based around an addition/subtraction rule
• For example, a sequence with a common difference of

2 (5, 7, 9, 11…) is an Arithmetic Sequence
• This next part focuses on sequences where the

pattern is based around multiplication or division
• A sequence such as 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 is known as a

Geometric Sequence
Geometric Sequences and Series
You need to be able to spot patterns Example Questions
to work out the rule for a Geometric Calculate the common ratio for each of
Sequence the following sequences…
a) 3, 12, 48, 192

In any Geometric sequence, u1, u2, u3 … un
u2 12
  4
un u1 3
un 1
b) 54, 18, 6, 2
Is the common ratio, and is the same for all u2 18 1
consecutive pairs  
u1 54 3
u2 u3 u4
  etc…
u1 u2 u3
7A
You need to be able to spot patterns Example Questions
to work out the rule for a Geometric Calculate the common ratio for each of
Sequence the following sequences…
c) 5, x, 51.2
In any Geometric sequence, u1, u2, u3 … un
x 51.2

un 5 x
Multiply by 5
un 1 x 
256
x
Multiply by x
Is the common ratio, and is the same for all
consecutive pairs x 2  256
Square root
u2 u3 u4 x   16
  etc…
u1 u2 u3
16
 3.2
5
7A
You can define a Geometric Sequence using Example Questions
a first term ‘a’ and a common ratio ‘r’
Find the nth and 10th terms of the
following sequences…
a, ar, ar2, ar3, …, arn-1
a) 3, 6, 12, 24…
First Term = 3
1st 2nd 3rd 4th nth
Term Term Term Term Term Common Ratio = 2
Nth Term = 3 x 2n-1
10th Term = 3 x 29
= 1536
7B
Find the nth and 10th terms of the
following sequences…
a, ar, ar2, ar3, …, arn-1
b) 40, -20, 10, -5…
First Term = 40
1st 2nd 3rd 4th nth
Term Term Term Term Term Common Ratio = -0.5
Nth Term = 40 x (-0.5)n-1
10th Term = 40 x (-0.5)9
= -5/64
7B
The second term of a Geometric sequence
is 4, and the 4th term is 8. Find the values
a, ar, ar2, ar3, …, arn-1 of the common ratio and the first term
1 2nd Term  ar  4
1st 2nd 3rd 4th nth 2 4th Term  ar 3  8
Term Term Term Term Term
2 ÷ 1  r2  2 Square
root
r 2
ar  4 Sub r into 1
a 24 Divide by
4 √2
a
2 Rationalise
4 2
a 2 2
2
7B
The numbers 3, x, and (x + 6) form the first
three terms of a positive geometric
a, ar, ar2, ar3, …, arn-1 sequence. Calculate the 15th term of the
sequence
u2 u3 x x6
1st 2nd 3rd 4th nth  
Term Term Term Term Term u1 u2 3 x Cross
Multiply by
3 and x
x 2  3x  18
Set equal
to 0
x 2  3 x  18  0
Factorise
( x  6)( x  3)  0
x has to be
positive
x6
7B
The numbers 3, x, and (x + 6) form the first
three terms of a positive geometric
a, ar, ar2, ar3, …, arn-1 sequence. Calculate the 15th term of the
sequence
3, 6, 12, ..., ...,
1st 2nd 3rd 4th nth
Term Term Term Term Term First term = 3
Common Ratio = 2
Nth term = 3 x 2n-1
15th Term = 3 x 214
15th Term = 49152
7B
You need to be able to use Example Question
Percentages in Geometric Sequences £A is to be invested in a savings fund at a
rate of 4%. How much should be invested
 If I was to increase an amount by so the fund is worth £10,000 in 5 years?
10%, what would I multiply the value Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 Y5
by?
A Ar Ar2 Ar3 Ar4 Ar5
 1.1 A= A
r = 1.04
 If I was to increase an amount by
17%, what would I multiply by? Ar5 = 10,000
r = 1.04
A x 1.045 = 10,000
 1.17 ÷ 1.045
A = 10,000
1.045
A = £8219.27
7C
You will need to be able to apply Example Question
logarithms to solve problems
What is the first term in the sequence 3,
6, 12, 24… to exceed 1 million?
 Remember that logarithms are used when
solving equations where the power is
unknown.
ar n 1  1, 000, 000
n1
Sub in ‘a’ and ‘r’
3 2  1, 000, 000
 You will need to remember ‘the power law’ Divide by 3
in most questions of this type n1 1, 000, 000
2 
3
Take logs
 1, 000, 000 
 1, 000, 000 
log   log  2   log 
n1

 3  Work out  3  Use the power
n 1  the right
log(2)  1, 000, 000  law
side (n  1) log(2)  log  
n  1  18.346...  3 
Divide by
Add 1
n  19.346...  1, 000, 000  log(2)
log  
It must be the  3 
20th term
n 1 
n  20 log(2)
7C
You need to be able to work out the sum
of a Geometric Sequence
1 Sn  a  ar  ar 2  ar 3  ar 4  ...  ...  ar n  2  ar n 1
Multiply all
terms by r
2 rSn  ar  ar  ar  ar  ar  ...  ...  ar  ar
2 3 4 5 n 1 n
1 - 2 Sn  rSn  a  ar
n
Factorise
both sides
S n (1  r )  a (1  r n )
Divide by
n (1 - r)
a (1  r )
Sn 
(1  r )
7D
You need to be able to work out the sum Example Question
of a Geometric Sequence Find the sum of the following series:
1024 + 512 + 256 + 128 + … + … + 1
a (1  r n ) 𝑎=1024 𝑟 =0.5 𝑛=?

Sn 
(1  r ) 𝑙𝑜𝑔 ( )
1
1024
=( 𝑛 −1 ) log ⁡(0.5)
Divide by
n 1
Tn  ar Use the
power law𝑙𝑜𝑔 (
1
) =𝑛 − 1
log 0.5
1024
log ⁡(0.5 )
𝑇 𝑛 =𝑎𝑟 𝑛 −1
Add 1
( )
Sub in 1
values 𝑙𝑜𝑔
1=1024 (0.5)𝑛− 1 1024
+1=𝑛
Divide by log ⁡(0.5) Calculate the
1 𝑛−1 1024 whole thing…
=(0.5)
1024 11=𝑛
‘Take
( )
1 logs’
=𝑙𝑜𝑔 ( ( 0.5 ) )
𝑛−1
𝑙𝑜𝑔
1024
7D
1024 + 512 + 256 + 128 + … + … + 1
a (1  r n ) 𝑎=1024 𝑟 =0.5 𝑛=11

Sn 
(1  r ) 𝑆𝑛 =
𝑎 ( 1 −𝑟 𝑛 )
( 1− 𝑟 )
n 1
Tn  ar Sub in all
values
1024 ( 1 −0.5 11 )
𝑆𝑛 =
( 1 −0.5 )
Calculate
𝑆𝑛 =2047
7D
1024 - 512 + 256 - 128 + … + … + 1
a (1  r n ) 𝑎=1024 𝑟 =−0.5 𝑛=?

Sn 
(1  r ) 𝑙𝑜𝑔 ( )
1
1024
=( 𝑛 −1 ) log ⁡(− 0.5)
Divide by
n 1
Tn  ar Use the
power law𝑙𝑜𝑔 (
1
)
log -0.5
1024
=𝑛 − 1
log ⁡(− 0.5 )
𝑇 𝑛 =𝑎𝑟 𝑛 −1
Add 1
( )
Sub in 1
values 𝑙𝑜𝑔
1=1024 (− 0.5)𝑛 −1 1024
+1=𝑛
Divide by log ⁡(− 0.5) Calculate the
1 𝑛− 1 1024 whole thing…
=(−0.5)
1024 𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 ‼
‘Take
( )
1 logs’
𝑙𝑜𝑔 =𝑙𝑜𝑔 ( ( − 0.5 ) )
𝑛− 1 Why can’t we work this out?
1024
7D
1024 - 512 + 256 - 128 + … + … + 1
a (1  r n ) 𝑎=1024 𝑟 =−0.5 𝑛=?

Sn 
(1  r ) log ⁡(− 0.5)
n 1
Tn  ar
You cannot take logs of a negative value…
𝑙𝑜𝑔10 (− 2 )=? 10? =−2
Whatever value we choose as the power will always be

positive (think about exponential graphs)
 Therefore, there is no answer to log(negative)
7D
1024 – 512 + 256 – 128 + … + … + 1
a (1  r n ) 𝑎=1024 𝑟 =−0.5 𝑛=?

Sn  𝑇 𝑛 =𝑎𝑟 𝑛 −1
(1  r ) Sub in
𝑛−𝑛1−1 values
n 1
1=1024 (−
(0.5)
0.5)
Tn  ar Remember at this point that you are just working out the
number of terms…
 The negative value here does not affect how many
terms there are, it just makes the pattern alternate
between positive and negative numbers
 So if it were just ‘0.5’ rather that ‘-0.5’, we will still
have the correct answer for n (the number of terms)
 So you can actually just use 0.5 for now, as it is only
the absolute value that is important here
(The negative will be important when we come to work out
the sum of the sequence…)
7D
1024 – 512 + 256 – 128 + … + … + 1
a (1  r n ) 𝑎=1024 𝑟 =−0.5 𝑛=?

𝑛=11
Sn  𝑇 𝑛 =𝑎𝑟 𝑛 −1
(1  r ) Sub in
values
n 1
1=1024 (0.5)𝑛− 1
Tn  ar
If we work through as before, using logs, we
will get the same answer for n (11)
7D
1024 – 512 + 256 – 128 + … + … + 1
a (1  r n ) 𝑎=1024 𝑟 =−0.5 𝑛=11

Sn 
(1  r ) Now we can work out the Sum of the sequence
 The negative value of -0.5 DOES affect the sum
of the sequence, so we do need to include it now!
n 1
Tn  ar 𝑎 ( 1 −𝑟 )
𝑛
𝑆𝑛 =
( 1− 𝑟 )
Sub in all
values
1024 ( 1 −(−0.5)11 )
𝑆𝑛 =
( 1 −(− 0.5) )
Calculate
𝑆𝑛 =683
7D
of a Geometric Sequence Find the value of n at which the sum of the
following sequence is greater than 2,000,000
a (1  r n ) 1 + 2 + 4 + 8… + … +
Sn  a 1 r2 n?
(1  r ) a (1  r n )
Sn 
n 1 (1  r ) The sum must be
Tn  ar above 2,000,000
a (1  r n )
 2, 000, 000
(1  r )
2n  2, 000, 001 Substitute
Take logs 1(1  2n )
log(2n )  log(2, 000, 001)  2, 000, 000
The power law
1 Multiply by -1 (and
reverse the sign)
n log(2)  log(2, 000, 001)
Divide by 1  2n  2, 000, 000
log(2, 000, 001) log(2) Subtract 1
n 2n  2, 000, 001
log(2) Work out the Multiply by -1 (and
n
RHS 2  2, 000, 001 reverse the sign)
n  20.9 n  21
7D
of a Geometric Sequence Find the value of the following:
The value or r to 10 The formula
a (1  r n )
put in for the last
number  (3  2 ) r
of the
Sn  r 1 sequence…
(1  r ) The value or r to
put in for the
first number
n 1
Tn  ar Work out the first, second and last terms…
6, 12, ..., ..., ..., 3072
a  6 r  2 n  10
a (1  r n )
Sn 
(1  r )
10
Substitute
6(1  2 )
Sn 
(1  2)
Work it out!
S n  6138
7D
to infinity of a Geometric Sequence
Consider the sequence with the following This sequence

formula: CONVERGES to
1 0.1 recurring…
Tn  n
10 1
First 4 Sn 
1 1 1 1 terms 9
, , , , ...
10 100 1000 10000 As
Decimals A Sequence will
0.1, 0.01, 0.001, 0.0001, ...
converge if the
common ratio, r is
S1  0.1 Sum of 1st term between -1 and 1.
S 2  0.11 Sum of 1st and 2nd terms
1  r  1
S3  0.111 Sum of 1st to 3rd terms
S 4  0.1111... Sum of 1st to 4th terms
7E
Think about what happens to if , and n increases
 If we have a value like this which we keep
Imagine starting with the formula for the sum increasing the power of, the value becomes
of a Geometric sequence: increasingly small and tends towards 0…
For example, if r = 0.5 and we keep increasing n…

𝑎 ( 1 −𝑟 )
𝑛
𝑆𝑛 = For the conditions
( 1− 𝑟 )
stated to the right, rn
will tend towards 0 as
𝑎 (1 − 0 )
the sequence continues 0.51  0.5
𝑆𝑛 = to infinity
( 1 −𝑟 ) 0.52  0.25
Simplify
0.53  0.125
𝑎
𝑆𝑛 =
( 1− 𝑟 ) 0.54  0.0625
This formula calculates the sum to infinity of 0.510  0.00097…

a sequence, if -1 < r < 1
7E
Find the sum to infinity of the following
sequence:
a 40 + 10 + 2.5 + 0.625…
S  a  40 r  0.25
1 r
a
S 
1 r
Substitute
40
S 
1  0.25
Work it
160 out!
S 
3
7E
The Sum to infinity of a Sequence is 16, and the sum
of the first 4 terms is 15. Find the possible values
a of r, and the first term if all terms are positive…
S 
1 r Sn 
a (1  r n )
(1  r ) Sub in 15,
a (1  r n ) a (1  r 4 )
and n = 4
Sn  15 
(1  r ) (1  r )
4
Replace a
16(1  r )(1  r )
a 15 
S  (1  r ) Cancel out
1 r Sub in (1 - r)
16 15  16(1  r 4 )
a Divide by 16
16  15
1 r Rearrange  1 r4
in terms 16
of a Subtract 1
16(1  r )  a 1
  r 4
1
 r4
1
r
16 16 2
7E
Summary
• We have learnt what a Geometric
Sequence is
• We have seen how to calculate the

common ratio and first term
• We have also looked at the sum of a

Geometric Sequence, as well as the Sum
to Infinity

7) C2 Geometric Sequences and Series

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7) C2 Geometric Sequences and Series

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• L.

• For example, a sequence with a common difference of

• This next part focuses on sequences where the

• A sequence such as 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 is known as a

a) 3, 12, 48, 192

Nth Term = 3 x 2n-1

Nth Term = 40 x (-0.5)n-1

10th Term = 40 x (-0.5)9

Nth term = 3 x 2n-1

15th Term = 3 x 214

15th Term = 49152

a (1  r n ) 𝑎=1024 𝑟 =0.5 𝑛=?

a (1  r n ) 𝑎=1024 𝑟 =0.5 𝑛=11

a (1  r n ) 𝑎=1024 𝑟 =−0.5 𝑛=?

a (1  r n ) 𝑎=1024 𝑟 =−0.5 𝑛=?

𝑙𝑜𝑔10 (− 2 )=? 10? =−2

Whatever value we choose as the power will always be

 Therefore, there is no answer to log(negative)

a (1  r n ) 𝑎=1024 𝑟 =−0.5 𝑛=?

a (1  r n ) 𝑎=1024 𝑟 =−0.5 𝑛=?

a (1  r n ) 𝑎=1024 𝑟 =−0.5 𝑛=11

Consider the sequence with the following This sequence

For example, if r = 0.5 and we keep increasing n…

This formula calculates the sum to infinity of 0.510  0.00097…

• We have seen how to calculate the

• We have also looked at the sum of a

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