Layog, Elma Mae T.

3rd Year | BSED-MATH | HS-T1M

Boloron, Phoebe Kaye G. Subject: MATH 313

ARITHMETIC SEQUENCE

Learning Objectives

At the end of the lesson, the students is expected to be able to:

• define arithmetic sequence

• understand the formula to find the nth term

• find the nth term or the general term of a sequence for which some initial terms are given.

• find the common difference of an arithmetic sequence

• determine whether or not a sequence is arithmetic

• recall some patterns which occur in their day to day life

Warm-Up

Find the next three terms of each sequence and give the difference.

1. 2, 5, 8, 11, ...

2. 12, 7, 2, -3, ...

State the pattern for each step.

1. 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, ...

2. 25, 20, 15, 10, 5, 0, -5, -10, ...

3. -21, 3, 27, 51, 75, 99, 123, ...

HISTORY
We have a pattern here!
He listed the
According to first
an 50 terms, andof
anecdote then listed the reliability, young Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss in primary
uncertain
second 50 terms in reverse order beneath the
school reinvented this method to compute the sum of the integers from 1 to 100, by
first set.
multiplying n/2 pairs of numbers in the sum by the values of each pair n + 1.
Since he had 50 such pairs, he multiplied 101
times 50 and obtained the sum of the integers
from 1 to 100 to be 5050.

However, regardless of the truth of this story, Gauss was not the first to discover this formula,
and some find it likely that its origin goes back to the Pythagoreans in the 5th century BC.

Who discovered Arithmetic Sequence?

Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855) was a German mathematician who contributed in
many fields of mathematics and science and is touted as one of history's most influential
mathematicians. Many have referred to him as the princeps mathematicorum, or the “prince of
mathematics.”

Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss is the father of Arithmetic Progression. He found it when he was
in primary school and his teacher asked to sum the integers from 1 to 100.

Here is how he calculated:

Arithmetic Sequence

An arithmetic progression or arithmetic sequence is a sequence of numbers with a definite

pattern such that the difference between the consecutive terms is constant. The constant
difference in all pairs of consecutive or successive numbers in a sequence is called the common
difference, denoted by the letter d. For instance, the sequence 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, . . . is an
arithmetic progression with a common difference of 2. In an Arithmetic Sequence the
difference between one term and the next is a constant.

Arithmetic Sequences are sometimes called Arithmetic Progressions.

Each number in the sequence is called a term (or sometimes "element" or "member")

Parts of the Arithmetic Sequence Formula

If the initial term of an arithmetic progression is a1 and the common difference of successive
members is d, then the nth term of the sequence (an) is given by:

and in general

Where:

an= the nth term in the sequence

a1= the first term in the sequence

d = the common difference between terms

n = the term position (ex. 5th term, n = 5)

Exercises:

Let's try this!

Examples of Real-Life Arithmetic Sequences

Pyramid-like patterns, where objects are increasing or decreasing in a constant manner. Ideas
for this are seats in a stadium or an auditorium. A situation might be that seats in each row are
decreasing by 4 from the previous row.

Stacking cups, chairs, bowls etc. (Stacking anything works, but the situations is different when
one thing fits inside the other.) The idea is comparing the number of objects to the height of
the object.

Seating around tables. Think about a restaurant. A square table fits 4 people. When two square
tables are put together, now 6 people are seated. Put 3 square tables together and now 8
people are seated. I really love this example. You can use a rectangular table as well and start
off with 6 seats.

Filling something is another good example. The container can be empty or already have stuff in
it. An example could be a sink being filled or a pool being filled. (Draining should also be
considered!) The rate at which the object is being filled versus time would be the variables.

QUIZ

A.
1. He is one of the world's famous mathematician who is credited with discovering the
Arithmetic Sequence?

2. If the difference between successive terms is constant, then it is called an _________

_______?

3. Arithmetic Sequences are sometimes called __________ ____________?

4. The difference between the terms is called the ______ __________?

5. What are the parts of Arithmetic Sequence Formula?

B.

Determine which of the following sequences are arithmetic. If they are arithmetic, give the
value of 'd'.

1. 3, 8, 13, 18, 23, 28, 33, ...

2. -0.7, -1.7, -2.7, -3.7, -4.7, ...

3. 1.6, 2.2, 2.8, 3.3, 3.9, 4.5, ...

4. 4/3, 5/3, 2, 7/3, 8/3, 3, ...

C.