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Series and Sequences

Question 1
Skill involved: E379: nth term formula for arithmetic sequences.

Karen is going to raise money for a charity.

On day one, 50 people donated money to the charity. Each day, 20 more people donated to
the charity than did so on the previous day, so that 70 people donated money on day two,
90 people donated money on day three, and so on.

Each day, the donation given by each person was £5

Find the total amount of money donated by the end of day fifteen.

(3 marks)

Question 2
Skill involved: K379a: Find the first term and common difference for an arithmetic sequence (two
unknowns).

The 44 th term of an arithmetic sequence is 188 and the 57 th term is 240 .

Find the first term and the common difference.

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Question 3
Skill involved: K379b: Find the least number of terms for an arithmetic series to exceed a given
value.

Find the least number of terms for the sum of −11+−1+9+19+ … to exceed 4840 .

1 1
Arithmetic series: Sn= n ( a+l )= n ( 2 a+ ( n−1 ) d )
2 2

Question 4
Skill involved: E380: Sum terms in an arithmetic series.

It is given that (Could not display math)

The sum of the first n terms of an arithmetic series is Sn where (Could not display math)

The r th term of this series is ur

Given that Sn ¿ 12u n+1 +52 find the value of n

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(5 marks)

Question 5
Skill involved: K380a: Find the sum of an arithmetic series.

Find the sum of the first 37 terms of the series that starts with:

−2+−1+0+1+ …

1 1
Arithmetic series: Sn= n ( a+l )= n ( 2 a+ ( n−1 ) d )
2 2

Question 6
Skill involved: K380b: Find the sum of an arithmetic series from a word problem.

On Mary's 11th birthday, Mary received the first of an annual birthday gift of money. This
first gift was £30 and on each subsequent birthday the gift was £15 more than the year
before. The amounts of these gifts form an arithmetic sequence.

Find the total of these birthday gifts that Mary had received up to and including his 18th
birthday.

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Question 7
Skill involved: K380c: Find the first term and common difference for arithmetic series (two
unknowns).

The 15 th term of an arithmetic sequence is 239 .

The sum of the first 31 terms is 7998.

Find the sum of the first 42 terms.

Question 8
Skill involved: E381: nth term formula for a geometric sequence.

Find the common ratio of the geometric progression below.

6,12,24,48,96 …

Question 9
Skill involved: K381a: Find the first term and common difference for an geometric sequence (two
unknowns).

The 9 th term of a geometric sequence is 256 and the 12 th term is 2048 .

Find the value of the 6 th term.

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Question 10
Skill involved: K383a: Use sigma notation to find the sum of an arithmetic or geometric series.

Find the value of

( )
27 k−1
−1
¿∑ 7×
k=6 2

Give your answer correct to 1 decimal place when appropriate.

a ( 1−r n )
Geometric series: Sn=
1−r

Question 11
Skill involved: K383a: Use sigma notation to find the sum of an arithmetic or geometric series.

A sequence S has terms u1 ,u 2 , u3 , … defined by un =3 n+2 for n ≥ 1.

Find
200

∑ un
n=101

(3 marks)

Question 12
Skill involved: E382: Sum terms in a geometric series (including the sum to infinity).

The first three terms of a geometric series are 4 p , ( 3 p+15 ) and ( 5 p +20 ) respectively,
where p is a positive constant.

Given that 11 p 2−10 p−225=0, find the value of p.

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(2 marks)

Question 13
Skill involved: K382a: Find the sum of a geometric series.

Find the sum of the first 11 terms of the series that starts with:

27 81 243
9+ + + +…
2 4 8

Give your answer correct to 1 decimal place where applicable.

a ( 1−r n )
Geometric series: Sn=
1−r

Question 14
Skill involved: K382b: Find the sum to infinity of a geometric series.

Find the sum to infinity of the series 8+ 4+2+1+ …

Give your answer correct to 1 decimal place where applicable.

a
Geometric series: S∞ = for ¿ r ∨¿1
1−r

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Question 15
Skill involved: K382c: Find the first term or the common ratio of a series given its sum to infinity.

130
A geometric series has a=13 and S∞ =
3

Find the common ratio of the series.

a
Geometric series: S∞ = for ¿ r ∨¿1
1−r

Question 16
Skill involved: K382d: Find the least number of terms for a geometric series to exceed a given
value.

Find the least number of terms for the sum of 13+ 45.5+159.25+557.375+… to exceed
57900.

a ( 1−r )
n
Geometric series: Sn=
1−r

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Mark scheme
Question 1
£14250

Question 2
First Term ¿16
Common Difference ¿4

① Form and equation for the 44 th term:Using U n =a+(n−1) d : 188=a+ 43 d(1)②

Form and equation for the 57 th term:Using U n =a+(n−1)d : 240=a+56 d (2)③
a∧¿16 (first term)
Solving the simultaneous equations gives:¿ d∧¿ 4( commmondifference ) Note: These
can be solved directly using your calculator.
Question 3
33terms

Solve Sn > 4840:

1
n [ 2 (−11 )+ ( n−1 ) ( 10 ) ]∧¿ 4840
2
1
n [−22+10 n−10 ] ∧¿ 4840
2
1
n [ 10 n−32 ] ∧¿ 4840
2
n [ 10 n−32 ] ∧¿ 9680
2
10 n −32n∧¿ 9680
10 n 2−32 n−9680∧¿ 0
¿
¿

Critical values: n=32.75 and n=−29.55

∴ n>32.75 so the least number of terms is 33

Question 4
n=¿25

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Question 5
S37 =¿ 592

1
Substitute n=37, a=−2 and d=1 into Sn= n ( 2a+ ( n−1 ) d )
2

1
S37 ∧¿ ( 37 ) [ 2 (−2 )+ ( 36 ) (1 ) ]
2
¿=592

Question 6
£660

➀ Write the formula.

n
Sn∧¿ ( 2 a+ ( n−1 ) d )
2

➁ Substitute n=8, a=30 and b=15.

8
S8 ∧¿ ( 2× 30+ ( 8−1 ) × 15 )
2
¿=660

Question 7
S42 =¿ 15225

① Form an equation for the 15 th term:Using U n =a+( n−1)d : 239=a+14 d(1)②

1
Form an equation for the sum of the first 31 terms:Using Sn= 2 n [ 2 a+(n−1)d ]:

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1
7998= ( 31 ) [ 2 a+30 d ]③ Expand and simplify:\begin{alignat*}{4} &\qquad &7998&=\
2
frac{1}{2}\left(31\right)\left[\ 2a+30d\ \right] &\qquad \\ {\color{#3FCBBF}\times2}& && \
qquad &{\color{#3FCBBF}\times2} \\ &\qquad &15996&=31\left[\ 2a+30d\ \right] \qquad
&\\ \\ &\qquad &15996&=62a+930d \qquad {\color{#3FCBBF}(2)}& \end{alignat*} ④
a∧¿−27(first term )
Solving (1) and (2) simultaneously gives:¿ d∧¿19( commmondifference ) Note: These
can be solved directly using your calculator.⑤ Find the sum of the first 42 terms:
1
S42 ∧¿ 42 [ 2 (−27 ) + 41 ( 19 ) ]
2
¿∧¿15225
Question 8
r =¿2

Question 9
u6 =32

&#9312Form and equation for the 9 th term:Using U n ¿ ar n−1 , 256=ar 8 (1)

&#9313Form and equation for the 12 th term:Using U n ¿ ar n−1 , 2048=ar 11 (2)
2048 ar 11
∧¿ 8
256 ar
&#9314Solve the simultaneous equations:(2)÷(1) gives: 3
¿ 8∧¿ r
¿ r ∧¿ 2(common ratio)
8
256∧¿ a × 2
Substituting r back into (1): &#9315Find the value of the 6 th term:
¿ a∧¿ 1(first term)
(Could not display math)
Question 10
-0.1

( )
27 k−1
−1
¿∑ 7×
k=6 2
27 5

( )
−1 k −1
( )
k−1
−1
¿=∑ 7 × −∑ 7 ×
k=1 2 k=1 2
¿ ¿ S27 −S 5
( 7 ) ( 1−(−0.5 ) )
27

¿=
1−(−0.5 )
( 7 ) ( 1−(−0.5 )5 )
¿−
1−(−0.5 )
¿=−0.146

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Question 11
45350

Question 12
p=5

Question 13
S11 =¿ 1539

a ( 1−r n )
Substitute n=11, a=9 and d=1.5 into Sn=
1−r

( 9 ) ( 1−( 1.5 )11 )

S11 ∧¿
1−( 1.5 )
¿=1539

Question 14
S∞ =¿16

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a
Substitute a=8 and d=0.5 into S∞ =
1−r

8
S∞ ∧¿
1−( 0.5 )
¿=16

Question 15
r =¿0.7

130 a
Substitute a=13 and S∞ = into S∞ =
3 1−r

130 13
∧¿
3 1−r
130 130
− r∧¿ 13
3 3
91 130
∧¿ r
3 3
r∧¿ 0.7

Question 16
8terms

Solve Sn >57900 with a=13 and r =3.5:

13 ( 1−3.5 )
n
∧¿57900
1−3.5
13 ( 1−3.5 n )
∧¿57900
−2.5
13 ( 1−3.5 )∧¿−144750
n

13−13× 3.5n∧¿−144750
−13 ×3.5n∧¿−144763
n
144763∧¿ 13 ×3.5
144763 n
∧¿ 3.5
13
144763
log ∧¿ n log 3.5
13
144763
log
13
∧¿ n
log 3.5
7.4379∧¿ n
¿
¿

∴ the least number of terms is 8

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