Material Taken From:

Mathematics
for the international student
Mathematical Studies SL

Mal Coad, Glen Whiffen, John Owen, Robert Haese, Sandra Haese and Mark Bruce

Haese and Haese Publications, 2004

AND

Mathematical Studies Standard Level

Peter Blythe, Jim Fensom, Jane Forrest and Paula Waldman de Tokman

Oxford University Press, 2012

Number Patterns

• Sequence: a list of numbers where

there is a pattern

• Terms: the numbers in the sequence

3, 7, 11, 15, …

The dots means that the sequence

carries on infinitely
 Describe the sequence:
14, 17, 20, 23, ….
Write down the next two terms.
- The numbers keep going up by 3

- 26, 29

⭐An arithmetic sequence goes up,

or down, in equal steps
Arithmetic Sequences
- The number added each time is called
the common difference.
- The common difference is represented by
the symbol d .
- The first term in a sequence is written as u1;
the second term is u2; the third term is u1; and
the nth term is un.
- The common difference (d) can always be
obtained by taking any term and subtracting
the previous term from it d = u2 – u1 or d = u12 – u11
- Note that d can be either + or - .
 In the arithmetic sequence:
3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, …
What is the common difference?
What is u1 and u3?
d = 0.5 u1 = 3 u3 = 4

In the arithmetic sequence:

1, -2, -5, -8, …
What is the common difference?
What is u1 and u3?
d = -3 u1 = 1 u3 = -5
Section 12B – Sequences of Numbers
Consider the pattern of marbles:

• First layer has one blue

marble
• Second layer has three
pink marbles
• Third layer has five
black marbles
• Fourth layer has seven
green marbles
 Consider the pattern of marbles:

• Let un represent the

number of marbles in
the nth layer:
• u1 = 1
• u2 = 3
• u3 = 5
7
• u4 =

The pattern could be continued forever…

 The General Term

• un represents the general term or nth term.

• The general term is defined for n = 1, 2, 3, 4, …
• For the marbles (and any arithmetic sequence) the
general term is:

un = u1 + (n – 1)d

This is the formula used to determine

the nth term in an arithmetic sequence
 Here is a sequence of numbers.
2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, …
A. Show that the sequence is an arithmetic sequence.
B. Write down the common difference.
C. Find the 10th term.
D. Find the 25th term.

A. The sequence goes up in equal sized steps of 3, thus it is arithmetic

B. d = u3 – u2 = (8 – 5) = 3
C. un = u1 + (n – 1)d
u10 = 2 + (10 – 1) x 3 = 29
D. un = u1 + (n – 1)d
u25 = 2 + (25 – 1) x 3 = 74
Find the common difference, first term and general term un for
an arithmetic sequence given that u3 = 8 and u8 = -17

Any arithmetic sequence can be written as:

u1
u2 = u1 + 1d
u3 = u2 + 1d = (u1 + 1d) + 1d = u1 + 2d
u4 = u3 + 1d = (u1 + 2d) + 1d = u1 + 3d

u3 = 8 = u1 + 2d AND u8 = -17 = u1 + 7d
u1 = 8 – 2d AND u1 = - 17 – 7d

8 – 2d = - 17 – 7d
d=–5 un = u1 + (n – 1)d
u1 = 8 – 2(-5) = 18
un = 18 + (n – 1)(-5)
un = 23 – 5n
The second term of an arithmetic sequence is 1 and the seventh is 26
A. Find the first term and the common difference.
B. Find the 100th term.

u2 = u1 + 1d = 1

u7 = u1 + 6d = 26

u1 = 1 – 1d AND u1 = 26 – 6d

1 – d = 26 – 6d

d= 5

u1 = 1 – 1(5) = - 4 un = u1 + (n – 1)d
u100 = - 4 + (100 – 1)(5)

u100 = 491
Insert four numbers between 3 and 12 so that
all six numbers are in arithmetic sequence.
u1 = 3
If we are adding 4 numbers then 12 must be u6

Thus 3 + 5d = 12

d = 1.8

3, 4.8, 6.6, 8.4, 10.2, 12

Here is a sequence of numbers 6, 10, 14, …, 50
a. Write down the common difference.
b. Find the number of terms in the sequence

d = u2 - u1 = 10 – 6 = 4

un = 50 = u1 + (n - 1)d

50 = 6 + (n - 1)4

44 = (n - 1)4

11= n - 1

n = 12
 The sum of the n terms of an
arithmetic sequence is termed an
arithmetic series and is written at Sn

Sn = u1 + u2 + u3 + u4 + … un
 The sum of the n terms of an arithmetic
sequence is given by the two formulas:
Use this form when

n you have the first

S n  u1  un  and last term

2
Use this form when
you have the first
OR term and the
common difference

n
S n   2u1  (n  1)d 
2
Find the sum of 4 + 7 + 10 + 13 + … to 50
terms.
d = u2 – u1 = 7 – 4 = 3 or the common difference
n = 50 or the number of terms
u1 = 4 or the first term
n
Sn   2u1  (n  1)d 
2
Sn = (2(4) + (50 – 1)3)

Sn = 25(8 + 147) = 25(155) = 3875

 Find the sum of -6 + 1 + 8 + 15 + … + 141
d = u2 – u1 = 1 – (-6) = 7 or the common difference

u1 = -6 or the first term un = 141 = u1 + (n – 1)d

un = 141 or the last term 141 = -6 + (n – 1)7
147 = 7n + 7
n 154 = 7n n = 22
S n  u1  un 
2
Sn = (-6 + 141)

Sn = 11(135) = 1485
The first five terms of an arithmetic sequence are
shown below.

2, 6, 10, 14, 18 …

(a) Write down the sixth number in the sequence.

(b) Calculate the 200th term.
(c) Calculate the sum of the first 90 terms of the sequence.

(a) 22

(b) 798

(c) 16200