Lesson 1 SEQUENCE AND SERIES

{5 [ 3+5 ( 32−1 ) +7 ] }
Consider this problem .
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What operation should be done first to simplify the problem? What sequence of
operations should be done to arrive in a correct answer?
In your biology class, you are asked to observe how
the plants grow from the first day to the 11th day. As you
jot down your observations, you are actually listing it in
sequence which means that the collection of data is in order
so that it has the first day, second day, third day, and so on.
Suppose that the data you want to know is the height of the plant from day 4 to 11. The
data you gathered are the following: 2cm, 4cm, 6cm, 8cm, 10cm, and 12cm. These data are
called terms of the sequence.
Below are two types of sequence.
Sequence A Sequence B
2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, …
You can consider a sequence as a function whose domain is a set of consecutive integers
starting from one. In the sequence above, if you consider those data as the height of the plant
then the domain starts with 4, otherwise, if not specified in the problem it is understood that the
domain starts with one.
Sequence A:
Domain: 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
The domain gives the relative position of each term- 4th, 5th, 6th, and so on.
Range: 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
The range gives the terms of the sequence.

Sequence A is a finite sequence because it has a last term, which is 16. Sequence B
is infinite sequence because of the three dots which signifies no end.

Discovering Patterns

Example 1:
The terms of the sequence from 1st to 5th term are 2, 5, 8, 11, 14. What is the pattern or
general rule for the sequence? Determine the 9th term of the sequence.

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Solution:
Domain (n): 1 2 3 4 5
Range (an): 2 5 8 11 14
The rule is an = 3n – 1, where n is the number of term and an is the nth term of the sequence.
To find the 9th term:
a9 = 3 (9) – 1
= 27 – 1
= 26 This is the 9th term of the sequence.

Example 2:
For each sequence, describe the pattern, write the next three terms, and write the rule.
a. 3, 8, 15, 24, …
Solutions:
a. n: 1 2 3 4 … n
an or f(n): 3 8 15 24
Pattern: 1(3) 2(4) 3(5) 4(6) n(n+2)
Rule: f((n) = n (n + 2)
The next three terms are: f(5) = 5 (5 + 2) = 35
f(6) = 6 (6 + 2) = 48
f(7) = 7 (7 + 2) = 63

Example 3:
Write the first 6 terms of the sequence.
a. an = 2n + 5
Solution:
an = 2n + 5
a1 = 2(1) + 5 = 7 1st term
a2 = 2(2) + 5 = 9 2nd term
a3 = 2(3) + 5 = 11 3rd term
a4 = 2(4) + 5 = 13 4th term
a5 = 2(5) + 5 = 15 5th term
a6 = 2(6) + 5 = 17 6th term
Finite Sequence
2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17 2+5+8+11+14+17

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 Infinite Sequence
2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, … 2+5+8+11+14+17+…
For more convenient and easier way of writing a series, you can us the summation
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notation. The finite series 2+5+8+11+14+17 can be written as ∑ 3 i−1 , where i the relative
i=1
position of the term or the index of summation, 1 is the lower limit and 6 is the upper limit of the
summation. The summation notation is read as “the sum from i equals 1 to 6 of 3i – 1.
Summation notation is called sigma notation since it uses the Greek letter sigma, . Infinite
series is the same as finite series. The only difference is that the infinite series has no upper limit.
∞
The infinite series 2+5+8+11+14+17+… can be written as ∑ 3 i−1 . The symbol for infinity (∞),
i=1
indicates that the series continues without end.

Example 4:
Write a series with summation notation.
a. 4 + 8 + 12 + 16 + … + 48
2 3 4
b. + + +…
3 5 7
Solutions:
a. The first term is 4(1), the second term is 4(3), and the last term is 4(12). Hence ai = 4i, the
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lower limit of i = 1 and the upper limit is 12. The series is ∑ 4 i .
i=1
b. In relation to the relative position of each term,
2 1+1 3 2+1 4 3+1 i+1
= , = , = ,…, .
3 2 ( 1 ) +1 5 2 ( 2 ) +1 7 2 ( 3 ) +1 2i+1
12
i+1 i+ 1
The rule for the infinite sequence is ai = . Thus, the series is ∑ .
2i+1 i=1 2 i+1

The index of summation can be represented not only by “i” but by any letter. It might not always
start with 1.

Example 5:
Find the sum of the series.
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a. ∑ 4k
k =5

Solution:

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a. ∑ 4 k = 4 (5) + 4 (6) + 4 (7) + 4 (8)
k =5
= 20 + 24 + 28 + 32
= 104

Using formula for a Sum

There are some cases that you need a formula to find the sum of a sequence. For
instance, you need to find the sum of the first 100 positive integers or the first n numbers
of positive integers or the sum of the squares of the first n numbers of positive integers.
The formula of these types of sequence is given below.
n
n(n+1)
a. ∑i = 2
. This formula is finding the sum of the first n consecutive positive
i=1
integers.
n
n ( n+1 ) (2 n+1)
b. ∑ k =
2
. This formula is finding the sum of the squares of the first
k =1 6
n numbers of positive integers.

Example 6:
What is the sum of the first 50 positive integers?
Solution:
50

∑ k=1+2+3+ 4+5+ …+50

k =1

n(n+1) 50(50+1)
= = = 25 (51) = 1275
2 2

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 Lesson 1.1 ARITHMETIC SEQUENCE

If there is a constant difference between consecutive terms of a

sequence, then the sequence is an arithmetic sequence. The constant
difference is called common difference. The nth term of the arithmetic
sequence is an and the common difference is d.

Example 1:
Identify if the sequence is arithmetic, then determine the common difference.
a. -5, -1, 3, 7, … b. 2, 6, 9, 14, …
Solutions:
Determine if there is a common difference between consecutive terms.
a. 7 – 3 = 4
3 – (-1) = 4 The common difference (d) is 4.
-1 – (-5) = 4 Hence, the sequence is arithmetic.
b. 14 – 9 = 5
9 – 6 = 3 There is no common difference between consecutive
6 – 2 = 4 terms. This is not arithmetic sequence.
To find the nth term of an arithmetic sequence, follow the certain rule.

Arithmetic Sequence
An = a1 + (n – 1) d, where an, is nth term, a1 is the first term, n is the number of terms
and d is the common difference.

Example 2:
Write a rule for the nth term of the sequence 30, 26, 22, …, then find the 15th term.
Solution:

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 a1 = 30, the common difference d = 22 – 26 = -4 ; 26 – 30 = -4.
The general rule is-
an = a1 + (n – 1) d
an = 30 + (n – 1) (-4) Substitute the given values of a1 and d.
an = 30 – 4n + 4
an = 34 – 4n
To find the 15th replace n with 15.
a15 = 34 – 4(15) = 34 – 60 = -26

Example 3:
The two terms of the arithmetic sequence are a6 = 8 and a18 = 26.
a. Find the rule or equation for the nth term.
b. Find the value of n for which an = 29.
Solutions:
a. Form two equations:
a18 = a1 + (18 – 1) d 26 = a1 + 17d Equation 1
a6 = a1 + (6 – 1) d 8 = a1 + 5d Equation 2
18 = 12d Subtract equations by MPE.
18
=d
12
3 Reduce to lowest term.
d=
2
3
Solve for a1: 8 = a1 + 5 ( )
2
15
an = 8 -
2
1
an =
2
Find the equation of the sequence:
an = a1 + (n – 1) d
1 3
an = + (n – 1) ( ¿
2 2
1 3n 3
an = + -
2 2 2
3 n−2
an =
2
b. Use the equation to solve for n:
Substitute the value of an.
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By MPE (Multiplication Property of Equality)
By APE (Addition Property of Equality)
By MPE
 3 n−2
an =
2
3 n−2
29 =
2
58 = 3n – 2
60 = 3n
n = 20
Therefore, 29 is the 20th term of the sequence.

Arithmetic Series
Arithmetic series is an expression formed by adding the terms in an arithmetic
sequence. The sum of the first n terms of an arithmetic sequence is donated by Sn.
The sum can be written in different ways.
Sn = a1 + (a1 + d) + … + an
Sn = a1 + (a1 – d) + … + a1
2Sn = (a1 + an) + (a1 + an) + … + (a1 + an) Add the two equations.
2Sn = n (a1 + an) Simplify.
n(a 1+an )
Sn =
2
n(a 1+ an )
The sum of a finite arithmetic sequence is Sn = , which means that the
2
arithmetic sum is the mean between the first and last term multiplied by the number of
terms.
Example 4:
Real-life Application
The first row of the concert hall has 30 seats and each row after the first has one more
seat than the row before it. There are 40 rows of seats.
a. Write the equation for the number of seats in the nth row.
b. One class of 50 students wants to seat in one row. In what row will they seat?
c. What is the capacity of the hall if there are 40 rows?
d. If the management of the concert hall plans to add 10 more rows, how many more seats
will be added?

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Solutions:
a. a1 = 30, d = 1, the equation is:
an = a1 + (n – 1) d
= 30 + (n – 1) (1)
= 30 + n – 1
= 29 + n
The equation is an = 29 + n.
b. Use the equation an = 29 + n, let an = 50.
50 = 29 + n
n = 50 – 29
n = 21
c. a1 = 30, d = 1, n = 40, solve for a40.
a40 = 29 + 40 = 69
Use the formula for the sum of arithmetic series.
n(a 1+ an )
Sn =
2
40(30+ 69)
Sn = = 20 (99) = 1,980
2
The capacity of the hall is 1,980 people.
d. After the expansion, there will be 40 + 10 = 50 rows of seats. Thus, a50 = 29 + 50 = 79 is
the number of seats in the 50th row. The total number of seats in the expanded hall is-
50(30+79)
Sn = = 25 (109) = 2,725
2
The number of additional seats is S50 – S40 = 2,725 – 1,980 = 745.

Example 5:
Real-life Application
A small-scale business of skin products earns ₱50,000.00 on its first year. The owner sets
a goal of increasing an annual sale by ₱12,000.00 each year for the next 5 years. Assuming that
this goal is met, find the total sales for the first 6 years of the operation.
Solutions:
a1 = ₱50,000.00 d = ₱12,000.00
a6 = 50,000 + (6 – 1) (12,000)
= 50,000 +5 (12,000)
= 50,000 + 60,000
= 110,000
6(50,000+110,000)
S6 =
2
= 3 (160,000)
= 480,000
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 The total sales after 6 years is ₱480,000.00.

GUIDED PRACTICE

Activity 1: How well do you know me?

Direction: Identify the arithmetic sequence. Explain why or why not.
1. 10, 8, 6, 4, …

2. 4, 7, 10, 13, …

1 2 4 8
3. , , , ,…
5 5 5 5

4. -5, -7, -9, -11, …

5. 1, 2, 4, 8, …

Activity 2: Getting to know you!

Direction: Write the equation or rule for the nth arithmetic sequence.
1. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, …

2. 6, 14, 22, 30, 38, …

3. -2, -1, 0, 1, …

4. 3, -2, -7, -12, …

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 5. 0.5, 1.7, 2.9, 4.1, …

Activity 3: What’s next!

Direction: Write the first five terms of the sequence.
1. An = 3 + 2n

2. An = -4 + 4n

3. An = 5 - 2n

4. An = -4 + 5n

5. An = 1 + 6n

Activity 4: You mean to me!

Direction: Write the arithmetic mean inside the box.
1. 8, 2, , -10

2. -10, , 14, 26, 38

3. 136, 116, , 76

4. 1, 16, , 46, 61

5. 405, 374, , 312

Activity 5: Summing Up!

Direction: In the given arithmetic sequence find the sum of the nth term.

1.

2. -2 + 3 + 8 +13 + … 7. 5 + 10 + 15 + 20 + …
n = 20 n = 20

3. 2 + 9 + 16 + 23 + … 8. 1 + 16 + 31 + 46 + …
n = 32 n = 17

4. (-8) + (-6) + (-4) + … 9. 21 + 20.25 + 19.5 + …

n = 25 n = 15

5. 34 + 31 + 28 + 25 + … 10. 10 + 7 + 4 + 1 + …
n = 32 n=6

6. 5 + 6.5 + 8 + 9.5 + … 11. 0.7 + 1.9 + 3.1 + 4.3 + …

n = 30 n=9

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Activity 6: Reality series.
Direction: Solve the following problem. Show your complete solution.
1. Determine the seating capacity of an auditorium with 30 rows of seats if there are 16
seats in the first row, 20 on the second row, 24 seats on the third row, and so on.

2. Tennis balls were arranged in circular form. If the circle has 15 balls, the next circle has
17 balls, the third circle has 19 balls. How many balls were in the 20th circle? How many
balls were there in all?

3. Ten posts are arranged from the shortest to the tallest. the difference of their heights is
1.25 ft. if the shortest is 3 ft, how tall is the tallest post?

REFFERENCES:

 J. Ulpina and L. Razon, Math Builders 10, Jo-es Publishing House, Inc. (2015)
 D. Franklin Wright. Prealgebra: A Worktext. Second Edition. Houghton, Mifflin Company,
1977.
 Foster, Winters, Gell, Rath, AND Gordon. Algebra I Applications and connections.
Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 1996.
 Jacobs and Treff. Life Skills Mathematics. Minnesota: AGS Publishing, 2003.
 Power Joseph C. and Power Marie Petranic. Algebra Essentials and Applications. Holt,
Rinehart, and Winston, 2004.

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