Cover Page for AP & GP & Sigma Notation (Prelim 2008)

S/No

AP&GP,
Sigma Notation

AJC

ACJC

Answers
Q1
Least n = 23
Q2
n+2
1 + ( 2m + n 1) d
2
Q3
( 8, 4 )
Q4
(i)18, 12, 8

CJC

(ii)54
(iii)n = 1,2,3,4,5,6

DHS

HCI

IJC

Q5
(i) r = 2/5
(ii) 5
Q6
(i) $51239
(ii) n = 30
(iii) $11155
Q7
(i) un = 1.03(un1 12000)
(ii) 412000 212000(1.03n )
(iii)23 years
(iv)8317.42 , Its to Johns benefit to terminate his loan early
Q8
(a) n 73.42 or n 272.42
The minimum number of students needed is 74.
(b)(i) U 4 = 4.5, U 6 = 5.25
(iii) (U 2(i +1) U 2i ) forms geometric sequence with common

ratio as

1
.
2

Q9

JJC

MI

MJC

1
1
(i) = 2 +
r r 1
1

= 3 + 2n +
n

(iii) 0
Q10
a = 10 ; d = 2

Q11
(a) 2n -3
(b) 200,000
July 2019
Q12
a = {a : 2 < a < 3} , least n = 31

10

NYJC

11

NJC

12

PJC

13

RJC

14

SAJC

15

SRJC

16

TPJC

17

TJC

18

VJC

19

YJC

Q13
(i) ln(r )
N +1
N +1
(ii)
ln(aaN +1 ) , ( aaN +1 ) 2
2
Q14
1
x
2
x
(i) u1 = P 1 +
, u2 = P 1 +

3 100
9 100
2
x
(ii) r = 1+

3 100
(iii) x = 12.5 ; 5720
Q15
a = 32, d = 2

Q16
(i) n(4 + n)
(ii)37
(iii)1500(1 0.95n )
(iv)Not practical as S = 1500
Q17
(a)(i) n =

2 Sn
(a)(iii) 0.063 mm
a+l

Q18
3
1
b = , b = 1, b =
2
2
4
8
=
Sum to infinity =
1
1 ( ) 3
2
Q19
(a)10, 7
(b) 3 < x 1 , 0
Q20
1 8
(a) (i) 14 (b)(ii) ;
2 3
Q21
4
(i) (4 4 n 1)
17
(ii) n ln15 + n 2 ln 4
Q22
(i) 4, 12,36

( )

(iii) 2 3n 1

AP & GP & Sigma Notation

Q1

AJC/II/2
The seventh, third and first term of an arithmetic progression with non-zero common
difference are the first three terms of a geometric progression respectively. Prove that the
geometric progression is convergent.
[3]
The seventh term of the arithmetic progression is 3. Find the smallest value of n such that
the sum of the first n terms in the arithmetic progression exceeds the sum of the first n terms
in the geometric progression by at least 100.
[4]

Q2

ACJC/I/2
Find
1
1
1

+ ( m 1) d + + md + + ( m + 1) d + KK + + ( m + n ) d ,
2
2
2

where m, n and d are constants, leaving your answer in terms of m, n and d.

[3]

Q3

ACJC/I/4
An ant of negligible size walks a distance of 10 units from the origin in the x-y plane along
the x-axis. It then turns left and goes up 5 units from its current point. If the ant continues
turning left and going half the distance it had previously walked, repeating the pattern, find
the coordinates of the point where the ant will eventually end up.
[4]

Q4

CJC/I/3
The product of the first three terms in a convergent geometric series is 1728. When the third term is
decreased by 2, the three numbers will then form an arithmetic series.
(i)
Find the first three terms of the geometric series.
[4]
(ii)
State the condition for convergence and find the sum to infinity, S, of the geometric
series.
[2]
(iii)
The sum of the first n terms of the arithmetic series is denoted by Sn. Find the values of
n for which 5Sn exceeds S.
[4]

Q5

DHS/I/1
The sum of the first n terms of a series is given by 5

(i)
(ii)
Q6

2n
.
5n 1

Show that the series is a geometric series.

Explain why this series converges and find its sum to infinity.

[3]
[2]

DHS/II/4
Ryan is offered a job in the financial sector which pays a starting annual salary of $36 000
in the first year and an annual increment of 4% of the previous year's annual salary.
(i)

Find Ryan's annual salary in his tenth year on the job, giving your answer correct to
the nearest dollar.
[2]

(ii)

Ryan decides to save 50% of his salary every month in a bank account. Ignoring any
saving interests, he would have saved at least one million dollars in the nth year after
he had started working. Find the least value of n.
[4]

(iii)

Ryan then invests a fixed amount of $10 000 in a unit trust account. If he maintains
this account, he would get a bonus at the end of the 5th month and every fifth month
thereafter, i.e. 5th, 10th, 15th month and so on. The first payment of this bonus is $25
and increases by $3 for each subsequent payment. Find the total amount he would
have in his unit trust account at the end of 9 years.
[4]

Q7

HCI/II/3
John took a bank loan of $200 000 to buy a flat. The bank charges an annual interest rate of
3% on the outstanding loan at the end of each year. John pays $1000 at the beginning of
each month until he finishes paying for his loan. Let un denote the amount owed by John at
the end of nth year, where n + .
(i)
Show that un = k (un 1 12000) , where k is a constant to be determined.

(ii)
(iii)
(iv)

Q8

Express un in the form of a + (1.03 )b , where a and b are constants to be

determined.
[3]
Find the minimum number of years required for John to pay up the bank loan. [2]
Suppose John decides to terminate his loan after 15 years by paying the remaining
sum by cash. However, there is a penalty of 5% of the remaining loan for early
termination. If John had not terminated his loan earlier, find the total interest he has
to pay after 15 years.
Determine, with justification, if it is to Johns benefit to make an early termination.
[4]

IJC/I/9
(a)
In an inter-house games competition, students from Green house decided to form a
relay team. The first runner of the team will run 800 m, the second runner will run
the next 808 m and each subsequent runner will increase the distance run by 8 m.
Determine the minimum number of students needed to complete a total run of at
least 80 km.
[4]
(b)

The sequence U1 , U 2 , U 3 , K is such that U1 = 1 , U 2 = 3 and

for
(i)

(ii)
(iii)

n 3.
Write down the values of U 4 and U 6 .

1
U n = U n2 + 3
2
[1]

Show that U 2 n = 6 1 n for n 1 .

[3]
2
U 2( n +1) U 2 n
Show that
is a constant, and explain the significance of this
U 2 n U 2( n1)
result.

Q9

[1]

[2]

IJC/I/11(i), (iii)
(i)

Express

2 r 2 2r 1
in partial fractions.
r ( r 1)
n

Hence find

r =2

2 r 2 2r 1
, giving your answer in the form k + f ( n ) , where k is a
r ( r 1)

constant.

(iii)

[2]

[3]

Using the above results, evaluate

2r 2 2r 1 r + 1
r .

n r = 2 nr ( r 1)
2
n

lim

[3]

Q10 JJC/II/1
An arithmetic progression of positive terms is such that twice the sum of the first nine terms
is equal to the sum of the next nine terms. Let Tn denote the nth term of the arithmetic
progression. Given that T1 , 20, T16 forms a geometric progression, find the first term and the
common difference of the arithmetic progression.
[5]
Q11 MI/II/4
(a)
The sum of the first n terms of a series is given by Sn = n2 2n. Find the nth term in
terms of n, and hence show that the series is an arithmetic progression.
[3]
(b)

Watermelons are harvested from a farm on a monthly basis. As the fertility of the
land decreases over time, the quantity of watermelons harvested decreases with each
harvest. Each subsequent months harvest contains 1% less watermelons than the
previous month. In the first month, the crop contains 2,000 watermelons. Calculate
the maximum number of watermelons which can be harvested from this farm in the
long run.
[2]
The owner of the farm decides to stop his harvesting operations when the crop
yields less than 500 watermelons a month. The month where he harvests less than
500 watermelons will be his last month of harvesting. Find the total number of
months of harvesting.
Given that the first harvest was in January 2008, when will the last harvest be? [5]

Q12 MJC/II/2
An infinite geometric series has first term a 1 and second term a 2 3a + 2 . Given that all
the terms of the series are positive, find the set of values of a for which the series converges.
[3]
Given that a =

11
, find the least value of n for which the sum of the first n terms of the
4

series exceeds 6.999.

[3]

Q13 NYJC/I/4
A geometric sequence { an } has first term a and common ratio r. The sequence of numbers
{ bn } satisfy the relation bn = ln(an ) for n

(i)

Show that { bn } is an arithmetic sequence and determine the value of the common
difference in terms of r.

[3]

N +1

(ii)

Find an expression for

in terms of a, aN + 1 and N.

[2]

n =1

Hence, obtain an expression for a1 a2 L aN +1 in terms of a, aN + 1 and N.

[2]

Q14 NJC/I/9
Damian deposits P dollars in POSD bank at the beginning of a year. The deposit earns an
1
interest rate of x % per annum compounded annually. At the end of each year,
of the
3
amount in the account (including principal and interest) is withdrawn and the remainder is
re-deposited at the same rate. Let un denote the amount of money withdrawn at the end of
the nth year.
3

(i)
(ii)
(iii)

4
x
P 1 +
. [3]
27 100
Given that u1 , u2 , u3 , K form a geometric progression, find the common ratio in
terms of x.
[1]
27
Suppose u3 =
P , find the value of x. Given further that P = 5000 , find the total
128
amount of money withdrawn at the end of the first 5 years. Give your answer
correct to the nearest integer.
[4]

Express u1 and u2 in terms P and x and hence show that u3 =

Q15 PJC/I/6
An arithmetic progression has 889 terms. The sum of all the even-numbered terms of the
progression is 408480. The 1st term, 9th term, and the 21st term of the progression are three
consecutive terms of a geometric progression. Find the first term and the common difference
of the arithmetic progression.

[8]

Q16 RJC/I/4
A gardener needs to spread 1500 kg of sand over his garden. He spreads 5 kg during the first
day, and increases the amount he spreads each subsequent day by 2 kg.
(i)
(ii)

Find an expression for the mass of sand the gardener has spread by the end of the
nth day.
[2]
Deduce the minimum number of days required for him to spread the 1500 kg of
sand.
[3]

The gardeners neighbour also needs to spread 1500 kg of sand over his garden. He decides
to spread 75 kg each day, but discovers that during each subsequent day, the amount of sand
he can spread is 5% less than that of the previous day.

(iii)
(iv)

Find an expression for the mass of sand the neighbour has spread by the end of the
nth day.
[2]
Comment on the practicality of the approach taken by the neighbour.
[1]

Q17 SAJC/I/8
(a) (i) Given that a, l and Sn are the first term, n th term and the sum of the first n terms of
an arithmetic progression respectively. Express n in terms of a, l and Sn .
[1]
A roll of adhesive tape is wound round a circular cylinder of diameter 83 mm. The
external diameter of the complete roll is 110 mm. The total length of the tape is 65800
mm.

(ii) Let x be the thickness of the tape. By considering the length of the tape in the n th
layer, show that 2(n 1) x = 27 .
[2]
(iii) Find x, giving your answer correct to three significant figures.

[3]

(b)The first term of a geometric progression is 8. The sum of its first ten terms is one-eighth
of the sum of the reciprocals of these terms. Show that the sum of the first seven terms
of the original geometric progression is the same as the sum of the reciprocals of the
seven terms.
[5]
Q18 SRJC/I/1
The first term of an arithmetic series is 3 and the first term of a geometric series is 4. The
arithmetic and geometric series have both b as the common difference and common ratio
respectively. The sixth term of the arithmetic series is equal to the sum of the third and
fourth terms of the geometric series. Find all the possible values of b. For convergence in
the geometric series, find its sum to infinity.
[Leave all your answers in exact form]
[5]
Q19 TPJC/II/2
(a)
The first term of an arithmetic series is 7, its last term is 70 and its sum is 385. Find
the number of terms in the series and the common difference.
[3]
(b)

A geometric series is given as follows:

2 ( x + 1)

( x + 1)
+
2

( x + 1)

22

( x + 1)
+ ... +
2r 2

r 1

+.

Find the set of values of x such that the sum to infinity of the series exists and the
4
value of x for which the sum to infinity of the series is .
[4]
3

Q20 TJC/I/11
(a)
The terms u1, u2, u3, form an arithmetic sequence with first term a and having
non-zero common difference d.

(b)

(i)

Given that the sum of the first 8 terms of the sequence is 98 more than u29,
find the first term of the sequence.
[2]

(ii)

If u15 is the first term in the sequence greater than 196, show that
13 < d 14 .
[3]

The terms v1, v2, v3, form a geometric sequence with common ratio r. Another
sequence {wn} is then defined by wn = v2n 1 + v2n for all positive integers n.

(i)

Show that wn is a geometric sequence with common ratio r2.

(ii)

Given that v1 = 4 and the sum of all the odd-numbered terms w1, w3, w5,

32
in the sequence {wn} is
, find the value of r and vr .
[4]
15
r =1

[2]

Q21 VJC/I/12
Given that
u1 + u 2 + u3 + K + u n 1 + u n = 4 2n +1 4 ,
prove that un =

15
4

(4 2 n ) .

[2]

(i)

Find u1 + u3 + u5 + K + u 2n 3 + u 2 n 1 , giving your answers in terms of n.

(ii)

Show that ln(u1) + ln(u2) + ln(u3) + + ln(un) = an2 + bn, where the exact values of
a and b are to be determined.
[4]

Q22 YJC/I/5
A1 , A2 , A3 , , An are defined as follows :
A1 = 2,
An +1 = 2( A1 + A2 + ... + An )
(i)
(ii)
(iii)

[3]

for n = 1, 2, 3, .

Evaluate the numerical values of A2 , A3 and A4 .

[1]

Prove that A2 , A3 , A4 , , An form a geometric progression.

[3]

Find the sum of the n terms of A1 + A2 + A3 + ... .

[3]