Series

A Sequence

Any set of number which are generated by a specific rule or pattern are called a sequence. This
rule is applied on the first term to obtain the second term and applied on the second term to get the
third term, and so on.

Example:
2, 6, 10, 14, 18,..................
or 3, 9, 27, 81, 243,...........................
are two sequences which mean that they have a rule or a (generator) generating the next term from
the previous one.
Take the first sequence
2, 6, 10, 14, 18,..................
The terms are obtained by adding 4 (+ 4) to the previous to get the next term.
In the case of the second sequence
3, 9, 27, 81, 243,...........................
The terms are generated by multiplying the previous term by 3

Type of Sequences
There are mainly two type of sequences which are called the Arithmetic sequence or Arithmetic
progression and the Geometric sequence or Geometric progression. The two sequences are
different because of the type of rule they have.

1 Arithmetic Progressions

An Arithmetic sequence is a sequence which its terms are generated by a common difference, that
is when subtracting the first term from the second term must be the value as when the second term
is subtracted the third term and is the third term is subtracted from the fourth term and so on.

Properties of an Arithmetic Sequence

i An arithmetic progression always have a first term which is denoted by a
ii the common difference is between successive terms is the same constant which is denoted by d
Thus, in general if an arithmetic progression has first term a and common difference d, then any
term un in that sequence is given by such that:

un  a   n  1 d

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for n is the number of the term in the sequence or the number of term in the sequence,
which is known as the formula for the nth term of an arithmetic progression.

With this formula it is possible to find:

1 un , given a, n and d

2 a, given un , n and d

3 n, given un , a and d

4 d, given un , n and a

Now consider the following examples.

Eg1: A sequence has the following terms

4, 7, 10, 13, 16,........
Find the 15th term in the sequence.

Solution
4, 7, 10, 13, 16,........
7  4  10  7  13  10  16  13  3 7  d  3
So the sequence is an Arithmetic Progression (AP)
The first term a  4 d  3 15th term u15 then n  15

Using the formula un  a   n  1 d

u15  4  15  1 3

 46

Eg2: In an arithmetic progression, the first term is 38 and the 10th term is 2, find the
common difference of this AP.

Solution
a  38 , u10  2 , n  10

Substitute these values in the formula un  a   n  1 d

 2=38+ 10  1 d

36  9d
 d  4

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 Eg3: For an arithmetic progression, the fifth term is 64 and the eighteenth term is 12.
Calculate the first and the common difference of the sequence.

Solution
u5  64 and u18  64

u5  64  a   5  1 d  a  4d  64  (1)

u18  12  a  18  1 d  a  17d  12  (2)

Now solution the equation (1) and (2) simultaneously

(2) - (1)  13d  52
d  4
a  4(4)  64
a  64  16
a  72

If an arithmetic sequence has a set of the first few terms, then it is possible to find the sum of the set
of the first few terms.

The sum of the first n terms of an Arithmetic Progression

The sum of the first nth terms in an arithmetic progression is defined as adding the terms in the
sequence in ascending order starting from the first term up to the nth term. The formula uses to
calculate that sum (S n ) of the first nth terms of an arithmetic progression is such that

n
Sn   2a   n  1 d 
2

for which a is the first term in the AP

n is the number of terms in the AP
d is the common difference between successive terms.in the AP
or at times this formula can be reduced to, such that

n
Sn   a  a   n  1 d 
2
n
 Sn  a  l  where l is the last term in the sequence
2

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 Eg4: Find the sum of the Arithmetic progression
8.5 + 12 + 15.5 + 19 + .......... + 103

Solution

8.5 + 12 + 15.5 + 19 + .......... + 103

In the above progression

a  8.5 and d  12  8.5  15.5  12  19  15.5  3.5

Furthermore the a last term is 103 and the number of term in the AP is unknown but it can be found.

It is that a  8.5 , d  3.5 and un  103

103  8.5  (n  1)3.5 using un  a   n  1 d

giving

n  28

Now using the formula for the sum of the first nth terms of an AP
n
Sn   2a   n  1 d 
2
28
S 28   2  8.5   28  1 3.5
2 
 1561

n
Alternatively the formula S n   a  l  can be used to obtain the sum of the first nth terms of the
2
sequence.

From above a  8.5 , l  103 and n  28

28
 S28  8.5  103
2
 1561

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 Eg5: The fifth term of an A.P is 23 and twelfth term is 37. Find the first term, the common

difference and the sum of the first eleven terms

Solution

A.P: u5  23 u11  37

a   5  1 d  23 a  12  1 d  37

a  4d  23 (1) a  11d  37 (2)

Solve (1) and (2) simultaneously (2)  (1)

7d  14  d  2

a  4  2   23  a  15

n
Using S n   2a   n  1 d  for a  15 , d  2 and n  11
2

11
 S11   2 15   11  1 2 
2

 275

So the first term is 15, the common difference is 2 and the sum of the first 11 terms is 275

Eg6: In an A. P. u10  3 and S6  76.5 , find a, d, and the smallest value of n

such that S n  0

Solution

u10  3 and S 6  76.5

for n  10 and n6

n
As un  a   n  1 d and Sn   2a   n  1 d 
2
n
3  a  10  1 d 76.5   2a   6  1 d 
2
3  a  9d (1) 153  12a  30d (2)

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 Now solving the two equations simultaneously
From (1)  a  3  9d
Substitute in (2)  153  12  3  9d   30d

153  36  78d
d  1.5
a  3  9d  a  16.5
Now suppose S n  0

n
  2a   n  1 d   0
2
n
 33  (n  1)(1.5)  0
2
n
 34.5  1.5n   0
2
3n
 23  n   0
2
3n
For S n  0  either  0 which clearly not a solution in this case
2
or 23  n  0  n  23
Thus for S n  0 then n  23  n  24

So the first term is 16.5, the common difference is 1.5 and the smallest value of n for which S n

is negative is 24.

2 Geometric Progressions GP.

A Geometric sequence is a sequence whereby its terms are generated by a common ratio, which is
obtained by dividing the second term by the first term, the third term by the second term, the four
therm by the third term and so on giving the same value.

Properties of an Geometric Sequence

i A Geometric progression always have a first term which is denoted by a
ii the common ratios between successive terms is the same constant which is denoted by r

Thus, in general if a geometric progression has first term a and common ratio r, then any term un

in that sequence is given by such that:

un  ar n 1

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for n is the number of the term in the sequence or the number of terms in the sequence,
which is known as the formula for the nth term of an arithmetic progression.

With this formula it is possible to find:

1 un , given a, n and r

2 a, given un , n and r

3 n, given un , a and r

4 r, given un , n and a

The same approaches used in arithmetic progressions are applied to geometric progression when
calculating terms in the sequences.

Eg7: Find the common ratio in the Geometric progression

2, 8, 32, ...........

Solution
2, 8, 32, ...........
u2 u3 8 32
r  r  4
u1 u2 2 8

Eg8: Calculate the sixth term in the sequence

10, 5, 2.5, ...............

Solution
10, 5, 2.5, ...............
u2 u3 5 2.5 1
r  r  
u1 u2 10 5 2

1
a  10 , r , n6
2

Using un  ar n 1
6 1
1
u6  10  
2
5
 1  10 5
 10    
 2  32 16

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 Eg9: Find the number of terms in this geometric progression.
2, 6, 18, .................., 1458

Solution
6 18
a2 r   3, un  1458
2 6
Using un  ar n 1
n1
 1458  2  3
n1
729   3

ln 729
n 1 
ln 3
n 1  6  n  7
Therefore the progression has 7 terms.

Eg10: Find the common ratio and the first term in the geometric progression where 2nd term
is 4 and the 5th term is 108 .

Solution
u2  4 and u5  108

 ar 21  4  ar 51  108

 ar  4 (1)  ar 4  108 (2)
Now (2)  (1)

ar 4  108
 to give r 3  27 r  3
ar  4
4 4
ar  4 a a 
r 3
4
So the geometric progression has its first term a  and common ratio r  3
3

As it is for arithmetic progression, geometric progression also have the sum for the first few terms

The sum of the first n terms of a Geometric Progression.

If the Geometric progression is given by denoted as
a, ar , ar 2 , ............., ar n 2 , ar n 1

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Thus if the sum of this Geometric progression is denoted by S n then this gives

S n  a  ar  ar 2 + .............  ar n  2 + ar n 1

Now S n multiplied by r, this will give

rS n  ar  ar 2  ar 3 + .............  ar n 1 + ar n

Subtracting rS n from S n

S n  a  ar  ar 2 + .............  ar n  2 + ar n 1

rS n  ar  ar 2  ar 3 + .............  ar n 1 + ar n

 Sn  rSn  a  ar n

 Sn 1  r   a 1  r n 

a 1  r n 
 Sn  is the the formula sum of the first n number of
1  r 
terms of a Geometric progression.
for which a is the first term
r is the common ratio

If the common ratio r is greater than 1, then it is convenient to use this formula result in an
alternative form:
a  r n  1
S n
 r  1

Eg11: Find the sum of the first seven terms of the geometric progression for which a  27
2
and r 
3

Solution
2
a  27 n7 and r
3

Sn 
a 1  r n 
 Sn 
27  2 7
3 
1
1  r  1 2
3

27 1  2187
128


1  23 
2059
  76.3 (to 3 sig fig)
27

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Infinity Geometric Progression

Consider the geometric progression whereby the first term is 2 and the common ratio is 3. The
sequence if generated will give
2, 6, 18, 54, 162,................
It is clear that the next is always getting bigger and bigger as n is increasing, thus it can be
concluded that:
"As n is increasing in the positive direction (i.e. Tending toward positive infinity),
the nth terms also are tending toward positive infinity"
It is obvious also that if the sum of this progression is been considered then it will follow the same
pattern whereby as n tends to positive infinity, the same will happen. The sum of the terms to
infinity of the progression will become bigger and bigger toward infinity too. When this happen to
a geometric progression, it is said that the progression is a divergent series. Therefore it is certain
that for the sum of any arithmetic series is a divergent series and this also apply to all geometric
series which their common is not a proper fraction (for r is not such that 1  r  1 )

1
Now consider the geometric progression for which the first term is 2 and the common ratio is .
2
Thus, the generated G.P. is such that
1 1 1 1
2, 1, , , , , ................
2 4 8 16
From geometric progression it is clear that as n is becoming very large then the nth term is
becoming very small. So this leave space to conclude that there will come a time when the nth
term will be very close to zero, hence if the sum of such progression is to be obtained then it will
reach a limit (a specific value).
From the same Geometric progression which can be diagrammatically illustrate the sum of the the
series. 3 78

3 34
0 1 2 3 3 12 4

From the diagram, it clear that the more remaining part is been halved and added to the previous
parts this sum is getting toward 4 but will never get there.
Thus it is said that the sum of this geometric progression is tending to 4 as n is tending toward
positive infinity., that is the sum to infinity of such G.P tends to a limit. Such geometric
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progression is called a Convergent series.
It is therefore possible to find the sum of a geometric progression which have convergence
properties. These properties are
i) a known first term a
ii) a common ratio r such that 1  r  1 ;( r is a proper fraction)
iii) if 1  r  1 then lim r n  0
n 

The Sum of Infinity Of Geometry Progression

When the common ratio r of a geometric progression is such that 1  r  1 , the sum of the n terms
can be obtained from the general formula for the sum of the first n terms of geometric progression
a 1  r n 
Sn 
1 r
which if expanded, it gives
a 1  r n  a  ar n
Sn  
1 r 1 r
a ar n
 Sn  
1 r 1 r

Since 1  r  1 , r n becomes less as n increases, i.e. r n  0 as n  

ar n a
Hence  0 as n   . Thus S n  as n  
1 r 1 r
a
The quantity is called the sum to infinity, as, n   , and is the limiting value of the infinite
1 r
number of terms.
a
i.e. S  and is valid when 1  r  1
1 r

Eg12: Determine whether each series converges. If it does, find its sum to infinity
9 27 1 1 1
a) 3  5  7  ...... b) 3   ......... c) 1     .........
2 4 4 16 64

Solution
a) 3  5  7  .............
5 7
 r Therefore the progression is not a G.P. It does not converge ,
3 5
then it does not have a sum to infinity.

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 9 27
b) 3   .................
2 4
9 27
2 4 3
 9
 r but r  1 then the geometric progression does not converge
3 2 2
hence does not have a sum to infinity.

1 1 1
c) 1     .........
4 16 64
1
 14 1
 161    r progression as G.P. and 1  r  1 then the G.P.
1 4 4
converges and has a sum to infinity..
1
a 1 r  
4
a 1 4
S   S  
1 r 1  41 5

There times when solving problems involving progressions the needs to apply more than one
formula or type of progression.

Eg13: The third, fifth, and seventeenth terms of an A.P. are in geometric progression.
Find the common ratio of the G.P.

Solution
From the A.P.
u3  a  2 d u5  a  4 d and u17  a  16d

These three terms above formed a G.P.

 G.P.: a  2d , a  4d , a  16d , .............
a  4d a  16d
So r  
a  2d a  4d
2
  a  4d    a  2d  a  16d 

a 2  8ad  16d 2  a 2  18ad  32d 2

16d 2  10ad  0
2d  8d  5a   0

either d  0 which is not possible

5a
or d 
8

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 a  4d
Now substitute in r 
a  2d
a  52a
r
a  54a
3 a
2
a
r 6
4

Therefore the common ratio of the G.P. is 6

Eg14: The fourth, seventh and sixteenth terms of an A.P. are in geometric progression.
If the first six terms o the A.P. have a sum of 12, find the common difference of
the A.P. and thee common ratio of the G.P.

Solution

From the A.P.

u4  a  3d u7  a  6d u16  a  15d and S 6  6a  15d  12 (1)

 G.P.: a  3d , a  6d , a  15d ,
a  6d a  15d
r  
a  3d a  6d
  a  6d  a  6d    a  15d  a  3d 

a 2  12ad  36d 2  a 2  18ad  45d 2

9d 2  6ad  0 (2)
 9d 2  d 12  15d   0

9d 2  12d  15d 2  0
6d 2  12d  0
6d  d  2   0

For d  0 is not possible, so therefore d  2 is the common difference of the A. P.

When d  2  6a  30  12  a  3
a  6d
r
a  3d
3  12
  3 is the common ratio of the G.P.
3  6

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