13.

1 SEQUENCES

A sequence is an ordered list or an ordered set of numbers. A sequence is a function whose domain is the set of positive integers A sequence will have a graph A sequence is usually represented by listing its values in order. For example, The numbers in this list are called the terms of the sequence Subscripted letters are used to represent the terms. (a1 represents the first term, a2 represents the second term, a3 represents the third term, and so on.) When a formula for the nth term is known, we can represent the entire sequence by placing braces around the formula for the nth term. For example, the sequence whose nth term is { } {( ) } or by: ( ) If the sequence goes on forever it is called an infinite sequence, otherwise it is a finite sequence When the signs of the terms alternate, we use factors such as , which equals 1 if n is odd and if n is even. Or we can use , which equals if n is odd and 1 if n is even. ( ) may be represented as:

Example: Calculate the first 4 terms of this sequence: {an} = { (-1/n)n } Calculations: 1 a1 = (-1/1) = -1 2 a2 = (-1/2) = 1/4 3 a3 = (-1/3) = -1/27 4 a4 = (-1/4) = 1/256 Answer: {an} = { -1, 1/4, -1/27, 1/256, ... }

One of the most famous sequences is the Fibonacci sequence, named after the Italian mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci. We start with 1, 1, and every new number is the sum of the two previous numbers: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89,

The 2 is found by adding the two numbers before it (1+1) The 21 is found by adding the two numbers before it (8+13) etc...

The recurrence relation for the Fibonacci numbers is xn = xn1 + xn2. Rules that depend on the values of previous terms are called recursive formulas.

Recursive Formula: Defining a sequence recursively: assigning a value to the first few terms and specify the nth term by a formula or equation that involves one or more of the terms preceding it.

Summation Notation- a concise way to express the sum of the first n terms of a sequence: The symbol in an instruction to sum (or add up) the terms The integer is called the index of the sum. It tells you where to start the sum and where to end it. The expression is an instruction to add the terms of the sequence { } from through We read this expression as the sum of from to

The Factorial Symbol: If is an integer, the factorial symbol Is defined as follows: if We can use the formula:

13.1 Assignment: 4, 6, 8, 10, 14, 18, 20, 22, 26, 30, 36, 40, 42, 46, 58, 60, 62, 64