27/10/2023

Topic : Sequences and Series

Sequence
• A sequence is a list of numbers that is written in a defined order, ascending or descending,
following a specific rule.

• A sequence can be either finite or infinite,

• A finite sequence has a fixed number of terms.

• An infinite sequence has an infinite number of terms.

• A formula or expression that mathematically describes the pattern of the sequence can
be found for the general term, 𝑢 .

1
 27/10/2023

Sequence
• A sequence is called arithmetic when the same value is added to each term to get
the next term.

• A sequence is called geometric when each term is multiplied by the same value to
get the next term.

Example 1:
Find an expression for the general term for each of the following sequences and state
whether they are arithmetic, geometric or neither.
(a) 3, 6, 9, 12, … (b) 3, −12, 48, −192, …

2
 27/10/2023

Example 1:
Find an expression for the general term for each of the following sequences and state
whether they are arithmetic, geometric or neither.
(c) 2, 10, 50, 250, … (d) , , , , …

Recursive sequence
• A recursive sequence uses the previous term or terms to find the next term.
The general term will include the notation 𝑢 , which means “the previous term”.
Example 2:
Find the first five terms for each of the following recursive sequences:
(a) 𝑢 = + 3 and 𝑢 = 9 (b) 𝑢 = 2𝑢 − 3 and 𝑢 = 1

3
 27/10/2023

Series
• A series is created when the terms of a sequence are added together.

• A sequence or series can be either finite or infinite.

• For example, 7 + 5 + 3 + 1 + −1 + (−3) is finite because it ends after the sixth term.

• An infinite series continues indefinitely.

• For example, the series 10 + 8 + 6 + 4 + … is infinite because the ellipsis indicates

• A series can be written in a form called sigma notation.

In stead of writing

𝑢 + 𝑢 + 𝑢 + 𝑢 + 𝑢 + 𝑢 +𝑢 +𝑢 + 𝑢

we may write
𝑢

It stands for the sum of all terms 𝑢 , where 𝑛 ranges from 1 to 9.

In general,
𝑢

Expresses the sum of all terms 𝑢 , where 𝑛 ranges from 1 to 𝑘.

We may also start with another value of 𝑛, instead of 1,

4
 27/10/2023

Example 3:
A sequence can be defined by 𝑢 = 2 × 3 for 𝑛 ∈ ℤ .
(a) Write an expression for 𝑢 + 𝑢 + 𝑢 + ⋯ + 𝑢 using sigma notation.
(b) Write an expression f0r 𝑢 + 𝑢 + 𝑢 + ⋯ + 𝑢 using sigma notation.

Example 4:
For each of the following finite series in sigma notation, find the terms and
calculate the sum:

(a) −1 𝑛 (b) −2 (d) 2𝑛 − 𝑛

10

5
 27/10/2023

Arithmetic Sequences

The formula for any term in the sequence is

𝑢 =𝑢 + 𝑛−1 𝑑

where
𝑢 = first term,

𝑑 = common difference

11

Example 5:
Find each arithmetic progression, write down the value of 𝑑 and the first term indicated.
(a) 14, 11, 8… Find 𝑢 (b) −7, −5, −3, … Find 𝑢

12

6
 27/10/2023

Example 6:
Given an arithmetic sequence in which 𝑢 =14 and 𝑑 = −3, find the value of 𝑛
such that 𝑢 =2

13

Example 7:
Find the number of terms in the following finite arithmetic sequence.
−8, −4, 0… 36.

14

7
 27/10/2023

Example 8:
Two terms in a arithmetic sequence are 𝑢 = 4 and 𝑢 = 34. Find 𝑢 .

15

Geometric Sequences

• A sequence is geometric when each term after the first is found by multiplying by a
non-zero number, called common ratio (𝑟).

• Looking at the pattern between the term number and the exponent of 𝑟, we can see
that the formula for any term in the sequence is

𝑢 =𝑢 𝑟

16

8
 27/10/2023

Example 9:
For each of geometric progression, write down the value of 𝑟 and find the term indicated.
(a) 40, 20, 10, … 𝑢 (b) , − , , … 𝑢 (c) 7𝑥, 14𝑥 , 21𝑥 , … 𝑢

17

Example 10:
Given 𝑢 = 81 and 𝑢 = , find the values of 𝑢 , 𝑢 , 𝑢 and 𝑢 such that the sequence
is geometric.

18

9
 27/10/2023

Example 11:
In a geometric sequence, 𝑢 = 5 and 𝑢 = 1280. The last term of the sequence is 20480.
Given that 𝑟 is positive, find the number of terms in the sequence.

19

Example 12:
The value of a car depreciates at a rate of 19% each year. If you buy a new car today for
$ 33560, how much will it be worth after four years?

20

10
 27/10/2023

Sum of a finite arithmetic series

The sum of a finite arithmetic series with the first term 𝑢 , common difference 𝑑,
and last term 𝑢 , is
𝑛 𝑛
𝑆 = 𝑢 +𝑢 𝑆 = 2𝑢 + 𝑛 − 1 𝑑
2 2

21

Example 13:
For each infinite arithmetic series below, find the sum to the given term:
(a) 1 + 5 + 9 + ⋯ + 𝑢 (b) 6 + 12 + 18 + ⋯ + 𝑢 (c) 132 + 124 + 116 + ⋯ + 𝑢

22

11
 27/10/2023

Example 14:
For an arithmetic series 𝑆 = −126, 𝑢 = −1 and 𝑢 = −20. Find the value of 𝑛.

23

Example 15:
The second term of an arithmetic sequence is 7. The sum to the first four terms is 12.
Find the first term and the common difference.

24

12
 27/10/2023

Example 16:
The sum of the first 10 terms of an arithmetic sequence is 630.
(a) Find the common difference, 𝑑, pf the sequence if the first term is 18.
(b) Find the first term of the sequence if the common difference, 𝑑, is 11.

25

Example 16:
An arithmetic sequence has first term 8 and common difference 2. The sum of the terms
of the sequence is 170. Find the number of terms in the sequence.

26

13
 27/10/2023

Sum of a finite geometric series

For a finite geometric series with 𝑟 ≠ 1,

𝑢 (𝑟 − 1) 𝑢 (1 − 𝑟 )
𝑆 = 𝑆 =
𝑟−1 1−𝑟

27

Example 17:
For each infinite arithmetic series below, find the sum to the given term:
(a) −2 − 4 − 8 − ⋯ 𝑢 (b) 100 + 50 + 25 + ⋯ + 𝑢 (c) − + − ⋯ 𝑢

28

14
 27/10/2023

Example 18:
A geometric sequence has 𝑢 = 25 and 𝑟 = 0.8. Find the value of 𝑢 and 𝑆 .

29

Example 19:
A geometric sequence has first term 5 and common ratio 2. The sum of the first 𝑛 terms of
the sequence is 635. Find 𝑛.

30

15
 27/10/2023

Infinite Geometric Series

If 𝑟 < 1, an infinite geometric series of the form 𝑢 + 𝑢 𝑟 + 𝑢 𝑟 + ⋯ = 𝑢 𝑟

will converge to the limiting sum

𝑢
𝑆 =
1−𝑟

31

Example 20:
Decide whether the infinite geometric series below are converging, and if so, find the sum:
(a) 20 + 10 + 5 + ⋯ (b) + + + …

32

16
 27/10/2023

Example 20:
Decide whether the infinite geometric series below are converging, and if so, find the sum:
(c) − + + ⋯ (d) −2
−1
3

33

Example 21:
Write 0. 7 as a rational number.

34

17