Sequences

Objectives
At the end of the session, students are expected to

• identify the next terms of the sequence

• generate the nth term or the formula of the sequence
Drill
 addition
Finding God in All Things
 4 + 6 = 10
Finding God in All Things
-4 + -6 = -10
Finding God in All Things
 4 + -6 = -2
Finding God in All Things
 -4 + 6= 2
Finding God in All Things
 subtraction
Finding God in All Things
 Zero
Positive 1 Negative 1

Finding God in All Things

 6–4 =2
Finding God in All Things
 6 – 8 = -2
Finding God in All Things
 6 – (-4) =10
Finding God in All Things
-6 – (-4)= -2
Finding God in All Things
1. 15 – 10 = 5
2. 14 – 7 = 7
3. 19 – 10 = 9 4. 10 – 15 = -5
5. 7 – 14 = -7
6. 10 – 19 = -9
Finding God in All Things
 10. -10 – (-15) = 5
11. -7 – (-14) = 7
12. -19 – (-10) = -9
7. -15 – 10 = – 25 13. -14 – (-7) = -7
8. -14 – 7 = – 21
9. -19 – 10 = – 29
Finding God in All Things
Sequences
For each sequence, determine which of the choices completes the
sequence.

1.


2.


3.
For each sequence, determine the next term.

1. 0 , 3 , 8 , 15 , 24
35 ,¿

2. −3 , 6 ,− 9 , 12, −15
18,¿

3. ,
___
What is common among the given sequences?

How did you predict the next term?

What helped in predicting the next term?

How do you define sequence?

Definition
A sequence is a set of numbers arranged in a definite pattern.
Each number in the sequence is called a term. The first term is
denoted by , the second term is , the third term is , and so on.

A sequence is the range of the function in which the domain is

the set of natural numbers. The th term of a sequence is called
the general term. The general term is denoted by , it is a
function that generates any term of the sequence.
Example 1:
Describe the pattern or the rule of the given sequence and
then find its next two terms.
1, 4, 9, 16, 25, ____,36____49

Solution: The th term of the sequence is obtained by

squaring the corresponding counting number or
natural number . Thus, the next two numbers
are 36 and 49.
Example 2: Write the first three terms of each sequence defined
by the given general term.
a. b. c.

Solution: a.
1st Term 2nd Term 3rd Term
Example 2: Write the first three terms of each sequence defined
by the given general term.
a. b. c.

Solution: b.
1st Term 2nd Term 3rd Term
Example 2: Write the first three terms of each sequence defined
by the given general term.
a. b. c.

Solution: c.
1st Term 2nd Term 3rd Term
Example 3: Determine the general term of each sequence and find
the indicated term.
a. 4, 9, 14, 19, 24, . . . ;
b. , . . . ;

Solution:
Each th term (except the 1st term) is obtained by adding the
previous term by 5.
𝑎 𝑛=5 𝑛 ¿ 𝑎 𝑛=5 𝑛 − 1
𝑎 1=5−1
(1 )¿ =4 𝑎 12=5(12)− 1
𝑎 2=5−1
(2)¿ =9 ¿ 60 −1
−1 ¿ =14
𝑎 3=5 (3) ¿ 59
Example 3: Determine the general term of each sequence and find
the indicated term.
a. 4, 9, 14, 19, 24, . . . ;
b. , . . . ;

Solution:
Each th term (except the 1st term) is obtained by adding the
previous term by .
𝑎 𝑛= 4 𝑛 ¿ 𝑎 𝑛= 6 𝑛+2
𝑎 1=6+𝟐
(1)¿ =8 𝑎 1 0=6 (1 0 )+ 2
+𝟐 ¿=14
𝑎 2=6 (2) ¿ 60+2
+𝟐 ¿ =20
𝑎 3= 6(3) ¿ 62
Example 4: Determine the general term of each sequence and find
the indicated term.
a. 0, 3, 8, 15, 24, . . . ;
b. 2, 5, 10, 17, . . . ;

Solution:
Each th term is obtained by squaring the corresponding natural
number , and subtracting the result by 1.
2
𝑎 1= ( 1 ) − 1= 0 𝒂 𝒏=𝒏 2 − 1
𝟐
2
𝑎 2= ( 2 ) − 1 =3 𝒂 𝟏𝟎 = ( 𝟏𝟎 ) − 𝟏
2
𝑎 3= ( 3 ) − 1= 8 ¿ 𝟏𝟎𝟎 − 𝟏
¿ 𝟗𝟗
Example 4: Determine the general term of each sequence and find
the indicated term.
a. 0, 3, 8, 15, 24, . . . ;
b. 2, 5, 10, 17, . . . ;

Solution:
Each th term is obtained by squaring the corresponding natural
number , and adding the result by 1.
2 2
𝑎 1= ( 1 ) +1= 2 𝒂 𝒏=𝒏 +1
𝟐
2
𝑎 2= ( 2 ) +1 =5 𝒂 𝟖 = ( 𝟖 ) +𝟏
2
𝑎 3= ( 3 ) +1=10
¿ 𝟔𝟒+𝟏
¿ 𝟔𝟓
Example 5: Determine the general term of each sequence and find
the indicated term.
a.
b. . . . ;

Solution:
1 1 𝒏
𝑎 1= = 𝒂 𝒏=
1+1 2 𝒏+ 𝟏
2 2 13 13
𝑎 2= = 𝑎 13 = =
2 +1 3 13+1 14
3 3
𝑎 3= =
3 +1 4
Example 5: Determine the general term of each sequence and find
the indicated term.
a.
b. . . . ;

Solution:
1− 1 0 𝒏− 𝟏
𝑎 1= = =0 𝒂 𝒏=
2 (1) 2 𝟐𝒏
2 −1 1 20 − 1 1 9
𝑎 2= = 𝑎 20 = =
2 (2) 4 2(20) 4 0
3 −1 2
𝑎 3= =
2 (3 ) 6
Example 3: Determine the general term of each sequence and find
the indicated term.
a. 0, 3, 8, 15, 24, . . . ; c. 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, . . . ;
b. 2, 16, 54, 128, . . . ; d. . . . ;
Solution:
As we notice, any two consecutive terms in this sequence have a
common difference of 3. Each th term is obtained by multiplying the
corresponding natural number by 3, then increasing the result by 2.
For example; , , . Thus, the general term of this sequence is
𝒂 𝒏= 3 𝒏+2
𝒂 𝟏𝟐 =𝟑 ( 𝟏𝟐 ) +𝟐=𝟑𝟖
Example 3: Determine the general term of each sequence and find
the indicated term.
a. 0, 3, 8, 15, 24, . . . ; c. 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, . . . ;
b. 2, 16, 54, 128, . . . ; d. . . . ;

Solution:
𝒏
As we notice, the terms in 𝒂 𝒏= (− 𝟏 ) 𝟑𝒏
the sequence are multiples
𝒂 𝟑𝟓 =( −𝟏 )𝟑𝟓 𝟑 ( 𝟑𝟓 )
of 3, but the signs are
alternating. Thus, the ¿ ( −𝟏 ) ( 𝟏𝟎𝟓 )
general term of this
¿ −𝟏𝟎𝟓
sequence is
Seatwork
Write the three terms of each sequence.

1. 2.

3. 4.

5. 6.

7. 8.
9. 10.
Seatwork
For each sequence, find the next term, the general term, and the
indicated term.

1. 5, 10, 15, 20, . . . ; 2. 7, 14, 21, 28, . . . ;

3. 0, ; 4. ;

5. 2, 5, 10, 17, 26, . . . ; 6. 0, 3, 8, 15, 24, . . . ;

7. 2, 8, 18, 32, 50, . . . ; 8. 2, 6, 12, 20, 30, . . . ;

9. . . . ; 10. . . . ;
11. . . . ; 12. . . . ;