Arithmetic Sequences

Definition: An arithmetic sequence (a.s.) is a sequence (ordered list of numbers) in which each
term is taken by its previous one, by adding or subtracting the same constant
number.
Example
That same constant, we keep
2, 5, 8, 11, …….. d=3 adding or subtracting each
time, is called constant
4, 8, 12, 16, ………. d=4
difference and is notated as d.
2, 2.6, 3.2, 3.8, ………. d=0.6
5, 3, 1, -1, ………. d=-2

Assuming that we have an a.s. un  , where u1 , u2 , u3 , ... are the 1st , 2nd , 3rd and so on
terms respectively, we can easily understand that by definition, if d is the constant difference,
we get that:

u2 = u1 + d

u3 = u2 + d

.......
By generalizing for two random successive terms un and un+1 , we get that un+1 = un + d

Notice that un denotes the random nth term of the sequence and un+1 the (n+1)th term
respectively. Hence the above formula basically expresses in math symbols an arithmetic
sequence.

But where can we use the formula un+1 = un + d ?

1st case (to evaluate d)

un+1 = un + d  un+1 − un = d

This conclusion states, that in order to find the value of the constant difference, we have to find
the difference between any two successive forms, always in the form (next term) – (previous
term)
Example
Let the a.s. 3, 8, 13, 18, …. Find d
Obviously, d=8-3=5
Example
Let the a.s. 5, 3, 1, -1, ….. Find d.
Here d=3-5=-2
Example

Let an a.s. , the terms of which are taken by the formula un = 2n + 4 . Calculate the value of d.

Unlike before, here we are not given the terms of the sequence, but the formula that produces
them. Still though, the constant difference will be taken by the difference between any two
random terms. Hence, all we are going to do is calculate on our own two random successive
terms and find their difference.

u5 = 2  5 + 4 = 14
u6 = 2  6 + 4 = 16
d = u6 − u5 = 16 − 14 = 2

2nd case (Prove that a sequence is arithmetic)

Assuming that we are given the general formula of a sequence, in order to prove that this
sequence is actually an arithmetic one, we need to:

1) Begin by calculating the difference un+1 − un

2) If this difference turns to be equal to a real number, then the starting sequence is
indeed an arithmetic one
if it is equal to an expression that contains n, then it is not an arithmetic one.
Example

Let un = 3n + 4 . Determine whether it can be an arithmetic sequence or not

Solution

un+1 = 3 ( n + 1) + 4 = 3n + 3 + 4 = 3n + 7
un+1 − un = 3n + 7 − ( 3n + 4 ) = 3n + 7 − 3n − 4 = 3
un = 3n + 4

It is an arithmetic sequence.
Example

Let the sequence un = n 2 + 2n . Determine if it is an arithmetic sequence or not

Solution

un+1 = ( n + 1) + 2 ( n + 1) = n 2 + 2n + 1 + 2n + 2 = n 2 + 4n + 3
2

un = n 2 + 2n
un+1 − un = n 2 + 4n + 3 − ( n 2 + 2n ) = n 2 + 4n + 3 − n 2 − 2n = 2n + 3

Since the difference contains n, it means that it cannot be the same for any two random
successive terms. Therefore it cannot be an arithmetic sequence.

Nth term of an arithmetic sequence

example

Let the a.s. 4, 7, 10, 13, ….. Find u1 , u2 , d , u5 , u8 and u20

Solution

u1 = 4
u2 = 7
d = u2 − u1 = 7 − 4 = 3
u5 = u4 + d = 13 + 3 = 16
u8 = u5 + d + d + d = 16 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 25
u 20 = u8 + d + d + d + ..... + d = ...

Of course, one way would be to start adding ds until we come across the needed term. But
what if we were looking for a greater term such as u1000 ? Wouldn’t this method demand too
much effort and time?
Luckily for us there is a formula we can use for such cases. It is called the nth term formula and
states that the random nth term of an a.s. in which the 1st term and constant difference are u1
and d, is given by un = u1 + ( n − 1) d

Considering the IB, this formula will be provided in the booklet, so all we need
to do, is being able to understand when to use it and how we can apply it
properly.
So, where exactly can we use it?

1st case (to determine a specific term of an a.s.)

Example
Let the a.s. 5, 7, 9, 11, …… find the 26th term of it.
Solution

We are looking for u26 and from the given sequence, we can easily tell that u1 = 5 and d=2.
Hence, I will apply un = u1 + ( n − 1) d for n=26. Therefore,
u26 = 5 + ( 26 − 1)  2 = 5 + 25  2 = 5 + 50 = 55

2nd case (finding the order of a specific term)

Example
Let the a.s. -2, 5, 12, 19, ….. Number 75 is a term to this sequence. Find its order.
Solution
In more simple words, what is stated in the information given, is that if we calculate the
sequence’s terms one by one at some point we will meet 75. the question is when will this
happen? Hence for which value of n will we have un = 75 ?

So what I am going to do is apply the formula un = u1 + ( n − 1) d for un = 75 , u1 = −2 , d = 7

and solve for n.

75 = −2 + ( n − 1)  7
75 = −2 + 7 n − 7
75 + 2 + 7 = 7 n
84 = 7 n
84
=n
7
n = 12
This result shows that 75 is the 12th term in order in the given a.s.
3rd case (finding if a given number could be a term of a given sequence)
Example
Let the a.s. 5, 8, 11, 14, …… Could number 63 be a term of this sequence?
Solution
In more simple words, if we go calculating all the terms one by one, will we come across 63 or
not. So, is there a value of n for which un = 63 ?

Here we already know that u1 = 5, d = 3 , so we will apply the formula un = u1 + ( n − 1) d

for un = 63 and the previously mentioned values and we will solve for n.

63 = 5 + (n − 1)  3  63 = 5 + 3n − 3  63 = 2 + 3n n shows the order of a term in

61 the sequence and therefore it
61 = 3n n = = 20.33333 can only be a natural number.
3
The found value of n cannot be accepted. This means that 63 is not one of the sequence’s
terms.

4th case (finding the number of terms in a given part of terms of an arithmetic sequence)
Example
Let the following part of successive terms of an a.s. 2, 6, 10, ….., 82. How many terms are
there in this part?
Solution
Here is the thinking: 2, 6, 10, ………., 82 If I can find the value of n for
which un = 82 , I am done since
u1 u2 un that number will also describe
u3 the number of terms in this part.

Here, u1 = 2, d = 4 . We will apply the formula un = u1 + ( n − 1) d for theses values

and solve for n.

82 = 2 + (n − 1)  4
82 = 2 + 4n − 4
82 + 4 − 2 = 4n
84 = 4n
n = 21 Which means that there are 21 terms in this given part.
5th case (‘frog effect’. Given any two random terms of an a.s. find u1 and d )

Example

Let an a.s. where u5 = 27 and u12 = 62 . Find u1 and d.

Here is the reasoning behind this case

The naming of frog effect (which is not official) came out from how the way a frog’s hops from
one water lily to another, resemble to the way we move in an arithmetic sequence, where in
order to go from one term to its successive one we keep adding the same constant number.
Hence, having that in mind, we can think the following:

How many hops would the frog need to go from the water lily marked as u5 to the one marked
as u12 ? The answer is easy. It would take the frog 7 hops. Thus since the frog’s hops are
basically the number of constant differences d we add, we could tell that in order to go from u5
to u12 , I would need to add 7d.

I am now writing this information with symbols and since I was given the numerical values of
these terms, I can solve for d.

u5 + 7d = u12
27 + 7d = 62
7 d = 62 − 27
7 d = 35
d =5
So, now I know that I have an a.s. where u5 = 27 , u12 = 62 , d=5 and I am looking for u1 . To
find its value, I will apply un = u1 + ( n − 1) d either for n=5 or n=12.

For n=5 , for n=12

u5 = u1 + ( 5 − 1) d u12 = u1 + (12 − 1) d
27 = u1 + 4  5 62 = u1 + 11  5
27 = u1 + 20 62 = u1 + 55
u1 = 7 u1 = 7
Arithmetic Series

Definition: let an arithmetic sequence un  , where u1 , u2 , u3 , ... are the 1st , 2nd, 3rd, and

so on terms respectively. We call sum of the sequence’s first n terms and denote it

by Sn , the expression: Sn = u1 + u2 + u3 + ..... + un , n N

Example

S1 = '' sum of first 1 terms '' = u1

S2 = '' sum of first 2 terms '' = u1 + u2
S3 = '' sum of first 3 terms '' = u1 + u2 + u3
.
.
S100 = '' sum of first 100 terms '' = u1 + u2 + u3 + .....u100
But how can we calculate that last sum? One obvious way is to go on and calculate each
one of the involving terms, but doesn’t this need a lot of effort and time?
The answer to that question is of course it does.
Luckily, there is a formula (or actually two formulas) we can use:
n n
Sn = ( u1 + un ) or Sn =  2u1 + ( n − 1) d 
2 2
These two formulas are basically the same. In most of the cases, we apply the second one since
it demands the knowledge of u1 and d. There are cases though were we are given the first and
the last term so the first formula looks like a quicker way to find the sum you need.
Example
Let the a.s. 2, 5, 8, 11, ….. Find the sum of the first 31 terms
Solution

n
Since it is obvious that we need S21 , I will apply the formula Sn =  2u1 + ( n − 1) d 
2
21 21 21
for n=21 Therefore, S21 =  2  2 + ( 21 − 1)  3 =  4 + 20  3 = 64 = 672
2 2 2
The reason I decided to use this formula instead of the other, was because I already knew the
values of u1 and d.
 Example

Let an a.s. in which u1 = 12, u25 = 60 . Find the sum of the first 25 terms of this sequence

Solution

It is once again obvious that we need to estimate S25 = u1 + u2 + .... + u25

Since we already know the first and last terms, it will be quicker to apply the 1st formula:

25 25 25
Hence, S25 = ( u1 + u25 ) = (12 + 60 ) =  72 = 900
2 2 2

Let us see now, some handy relations we can derive using such sums.

Connection between un and Sn

S1 = u1
S2 = u1 + u2 = S1 + u2 → u2 = S 2 − S1

S3 = u1 + u2 + u3 = S 2 + u3 → u3 = S3 − S 2 Example

u10 = S10 − S9
S4 = u1 + u2 + u3 + u4 = S3 + u4 → u4 = S 4 − S3
u105 = S105 − S104

Generalizing this process we get that un = Sn − S( n−1)

Partial sums
We have already seen how we can calculate the sum of the first n terms of a sequence. But
what happens though when the sum of the terms we need to find, does not start from the 1st
term?
Example

How would we calculate u7 + u8 + ...... + u23 ?

Solution
Here is the thinking: Since we want to go up until the 23 rd term I will begin by writing

S23 = u1 + u2 + u3 + ..... + u6 + u7 + u8 + .......u23

I need to get rid of it. But, hold on! That’s what I need to
keep
This is actually S6
By looking at the way I decided to expand this sum, we can see that it contains what I need to
calculate.

Using math symbols, S23 = S6 + u7 + ... + u23 → u7 + ... + u23 = S23 − S6

We can generalize the previous finding in the formula um + ...... + un = Sn − S( m−1)

but it would be a lot easier if you can simply understand the reasoning behind it.

Example

u10 + ....... + u48 = S48 − S10
u10 + ....... + u48 = S48 − S9
That is a common mistake students do. Be careful. If you
do it like this, you will also take out u10 which is
something you don’t want.
want.

Sigma notation
It is quite often that we see sums being written in sigma notation form. Let’s clarify some things
about this way of notating.
First of all, it begins with the Greek capital letter Σ that reads as sigma. Above and below it,
there is a variable that is escorted by some numerical values. These values express the different
successive numbers that can be substituted in place of the variable. Finally, as we mentioned in
the beginning the sigma notation stands for the sum and is basically a short way of expressing
bigger sums
Example
8

u
n =1
n = u1 + u2 + u3 + u4 + u5 + u6 + u7 + u8
4

2
i =0
i
= 20 + 21 + 22 + 23 + 24

Finally we will seal these notes with a condition for 3 successive terms of an arithmetic
sequence.

a+c
If a, b, c are three successive terms of an arithmetic sequence, then = b.
2
Example
Let x − 2, 2 x + 5, x + 6 be three successive terms of an arithmetic sequence.

Find the value of x.

Solution

( x − 2) + ( x + 6) = 2x + 5
2
x−2+ x+6
= 2x + 5
2
2x + 4
= 2x + 5
2
x + 2 = 2x + 5
−3 = x