Mathematics

ALLEN
6. ARITHMETIC PROGRESSION
n Sequence, series & progression
l Sequence : A sequence is an ordered arrangement of numbers according to a given rule.
l Terms of a sequence : The individual numbers that form a sequence are called the terms of a sequence.
The terms of a sequence in successive order is denoted by 'T'n or 'a'n. The nth term 'T'n is called the general term
of the sequence.
l Series : The sum of terms of a sequence is called the series of the corresponding sequence. T1 + T2 + T3 +....
is an infinite series, whereas T1 + T2 + T3 + ... + Tn–1 + Tn is a finite series of n terms.
Usually the series of finite number of n terms is denoted by Sn.
Sn = T1 + T2 + T3 + ... + Tn – 2 + Tn – 1 + Tn
Sn–1 = T1 + T2 + T3 + ... + Tn – 2 + Tn – 1

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Sn – Sn–1 = Tn or Tn = S n – Sn –1

l Progression : The sequence that follows a certain pattern is called a progression. Thus, the sequence 2, 3, 5,

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7, 11,.... is not a progression.

n Arithmetic progressions

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An arithmetic progression is that list of numbers in which the first term is given and each term, other than the first term
is obtained by adding a fixed number 'd' to the preceding term.

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The fixed number 'd' is known as the common difference of the arithmetic progression. It's value can be
positive, negative or zero. The first term is denoted by 'a' or 'a1' and the last term by 'l'.
l Symbolical form : Let us denote the first term of an AP by a 1, second term by a2, .... nth term by an and the

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common difference by d. Then the AP becomes a1, a2, a3,....,an. So, a2 – a1 = a3 – a2 = ... = an – an–1 = d.
l General form : In general form, an arithmetic progression with first term 'a' and common difference 'd' can be
represented as follows :
a, a + d, a + 2d, a + 3d, a + 4d,....
l Finite AP : An AP in which there are only a finite number of terms is called a finite AP. It may be noted that
each such AP has a last term.

l General term of an arithmetic progression

The nth term of an arithmetic progression is
CBSE-2022\Module\Advance\10th (NTSE-IN)\Maths-1\6.Arithmetic progression.p65

an = a + (n – 1)d
where, a is the first term and d is the common difference of arithmetic progression.
l rth term of a finite arithmetic progression from the end
Let there be an arithmetic progression with first term a and common difference d. If there are n terms in the
arithmetic progression, then

r th term from the end = a + (n – r)d

Also, if l is the last term of the arithmetic progression then rth term from the end is the rth term of an arithmetic
progression whose first term is l and common difference is – d.
rth term from the end = l + (r – 1) (–d)

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Class X
ALLEN
l Sum of an arithmetic progression

Sum of n terms of an arithmetic progression

n n
Sn = [2a + (n – 1) d] or Sn = [a + l]
2 2
where, a is the first term, d is the common difference and l is the last term of arithmetic progression.

} In the formula there are four quantities viz. Sn, a, n and d. If any three of these are known, the fourth can be
determined. Sometimes, two of these quantities are given. In such a case, remaining

two quantities are provided by some other relation.

} If the sum Sn of n terms of a sequence is given, then n th term an of the sequence can be determined by using

the following formula : a n = S n – S n –1

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i.e., the nth term of an AP is the difference of the sum of first n terms and the sum of first (n –1) terms of it.

n Selection of terms in an AP

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Number Terms Common

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of terms difference

3 a – d, a, a + d d

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4 a – 3d, a – d, a + d, a + 3d 2d
5 a – 2d, a – d, a, a + d, a + 2d d
6 a – 5d, a – 3d, a – d, a + d, a + 3d, a + 5d 2d

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It should be noted that in case of an odd number of terms, the middle term is a and the common difference is d
while in case of an even number of terms the middle terms are a – d, a + d and the common difference is 2d.

} If the sum of terms is not given, then select terms as a, a + d, a + 2d,....

} If three numbers a, b, c in order are in AP. Then

b – a = Common difference = c – b
CBSE-2022\Module\Advance\10th (NTSE-IN)\Maths-1\6.Arithmetic progression.p65

Þ b–a=c–b

Þ 2b = a + c

Thus, a, b, c are in AP if and only if 2b = a + c

} If a, b, c are in AP, then b is known as the arithmetic mean (AM) between a and c.

a+b
} If a, x, b are in AP, then 2x = a + b Þ x =
2
a+b
Thus, AM between a and b is .
2

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 Mathematics
ALLEN
l Points to remember

} If a constant is added or subtracted from each term of an AP, then the resulting sequence is also an AP with
the same common difference.

} If each term of a given AP is multiplied or divided by a non-zero constant K, then the resulting sequence is
also an AP with common difference Kd or d/K respectively, where d is the common difference of the given
AP.

} In a finite AP, the sum of the terms equidistant from the beginning and end is always same and is equal to the
sum of first and last term.

} A sequence is an AP iff it's nth term is a linear expression in n i.e., an = An + B, where A, B are constants.
In such a case, the coefficient of n is the common difference of the AP.

} A sequence is an AP iff the sum of it's first n terms is of the form An2 + Bn, where A, B are constants
independent of n. In such a case, the common difference is 2A.

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} If the terms of an AP are choosen at regular intervals, then they form an AP.

} The sum of first n odd natural numbers = n2

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} The sum of first n even natural numbers = n(n+1)

} The sum of first n natural numbers i.e. 1 + 2 + 3 +....+ n is usually written as Sn.

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n(n +1)
ån =
2

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} The sum of squares of first n natural numbers i.e. 1 + 2 + 3 + ... + n is usually written as Sn2.
2 2 2 2

n(n +1) (2n +1)

ån

A
2
=
6

} The sum of cubes of first n natural numbers i.e. 13 + 23 + 33 + ... + n3 is usually written as Sn3.

2
æ n(n +1) ö
ån 3
=ç
è 2 ø
÷ = (S n )
2

} A sequence of non-zero numbers a1, a2, a3,...,an is said to be a geometric sequence or GP

a2 a 3 a 4 a
CBSE-2022\Module\Advance\10th (NTSE-IN)\Maths-1\6.Arithmetic progression.p65

iff = = = .... i.e. iff n+1 = a constant for all n.

a1 a 2 a 3 an
e.g., 3, 9, 27, 81,....

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