Subido,Daryl M.

Bsit 2a
Representing a Sequence Recursively
Example 1: For the sequence of odd numbers, list a6, a7, a8, a9, and a10

Solution: Each term is two more than the previous term.

a6 = a5 + 2 = 9 + 2 = 11
a7 = a6 + 2 = 11 + 2 = 13
a8 = a7 + 2 = 13 + 2 = 15
a9 = a8 + 2 = 15 + 2 = 17
a10 = a9 + 2 = 7 + 2 = 19
Finding terms in this sequence is relatively straightforward, as the pattern is familiar. However,
this would clearly be tedious if you needed to find the 100th term. We will turn to another method
of defining sequences shortly. First let’s consider some more complicated sequences.

Example 2: For each sequence, find the indicated term.

a. Find the 5th term for the sequence:

t1 = 3

tn = 2tn-1
b. Find the 4th term for the sequence:

b1 = 2

bn = (bn-1)2 + 1
Solution:

a. t5 = 48

t2 = 2t1 = 2 × 3 = 6

t1 = 3 → t3 = 2t2 = 2 × 6 = 12

tn = 2 × tn-1 t4 = 2t3 = 2 × 12 = 24

 t2 = 2t1 = 2 × 3 = 6

t5 = 2t4 = 2 × 24 = 48
b. b4 = 677

b2 = (b1)2 + 1 = 22 + 1 = 4 + 1 = 5

b1 = 2 → b3 = (b2)2 + 1 = 52 + 1 = 25 + 1 = 26

bn = (bn-1)2 + 1 b4 = (b3)2 + 1 = 262 + 1 = 676 + 1 = 677

Representing a sequence explicitly

Example 3: Find an explicit formula for the nth term of the sequence 3,7,11,15... and use the
equation to find the 50th term in the sequence.

Solution: an=4n-1 , and a50=199

The first term of the sequence is 3, and the common difference is 4.

an =a1+d(n-1)

an =3+4(n-1)

an =3+4n-4

an =4n-1

a50 =4(50)-1=200-1=199
We can also find an explicit formula for a geometric sequence. Consider again the sequence in
example 2a:

t2 = 2t1 = 2 × 3 = 6

t1 = 3 → t3 = 2t2 = 2 × 6 = 12

tn = 2 × tn-1 t4 = 2t3 = 2 × 12 = 24

t5 = 2t4 = 2 × 24 = 48
Notice that every term is the first term, multiplied by a power of 2. This is because 2 is the
common ratio for the sequence.

t1 =3

t2 =2 × 3 = 6

t3 =2 × 2 × 6 = 22 × 6 = 12

t4 =2 × 2 × 2 × 6=23 × 6 = 24

t5 =2 × 2 × 2 × 26 = 24 × 6 = 48
The power of 2 in the nth term is (n-1). Therefore the nth term in this sequence can be defined
as: tn=3(2n-1). In general, we can define the nthterm of a geometric sequence in terms of its first
term and its common ratio, r:

tn =t1(rn-1)

You can use this general equation to find an explicit formula for any term in a geometric
sequence.

Example 4: Find an explicit formula for the nth term of the sequence 5,15,45,135... and use the
equation to find the 10th term in the sequence.

Solution: an=5 × 31,and a10 = 98,415

The first term in the sequence is 5, and r = 3.

an =a1 × rn-1

an =5 × 3n-1

a10 =5 × 310-1

a10 =5 × 39 = 5 × 19,683 = 98,415

Again, it is always possible to write an explicit formula for terms of an arithmetic or geometric
sequence. However, you can also write an explicit formula for other sequences, as long as you
can identify a pattern. To do this, you must remember that a sequence is a function, which means
there is a relationship between the input and the output. That is, you must identify a pattern
between the term and its index, or the term’s “place” in the sequence.

Example 5: Write an explicit formula for the nth term of the sequence 1,(1/2),(1/3),(1/4)...

Solution: an=(1/n)
Initially you may see a pattern in the fractions, but you may also wonder about the first term. If
you write 1 as (1/1), then it should become clear that the nth term is (1/n).