Saint Columban College

Pagadian City

Seminar in Mathematics
2018

ARITHMETIC AND GEOMETRIC

SEQUENCES

Submitted by:
Angelica L. Gupio
Submitted to:
Mrs. Jean Escalante
The two simplest sequences to work with are arithmetic and geometric sequences.

An arithmetic sequence goes from one term to the next by always adding (or subtracting)
the same value. For instance, 2, 5, 8, 11, 14,... is arithmetic, because each step adds three; and 7,
3, –1, –5,... is arithmetic, because each step subtracts 4.

The number added (or subtracted) at each stage of an arithmetic sequence is called the "common
difference" d, because if you subtract (that is, if you find the difference of) successive terms,
you'll always get this common value.

A geometric sequence goes from one term to the next by always multiplying (or dividing)
by the same value. So 1, 2, 4, 8, 16,... is geometric, because each step multiplies by two; and 81,
27, 9, 3, 1, 13\frac{1}{3}31,... is geometric, because each step divides by 3.

The number multiplied (or divided) at each stage of a geometric sequence is called the "common
ratio" r, because if you divide (that is, if you find the ratio of) successive terms, you'll always get
this common value.

Find the common difference and the next term of the following sequence:

3, 11, 19, 27, 35, ...

To find the common difference, I have to subtract a successive pair of terms. It doesn't matter
which pair I pick, as long as they're right next to each other. To be thorough, I'll do all the
subtractions:

11 – 3 = 8
19 – 11 = 8
27 – 19 = 8
35 – 27 = 8

The difference is always 8, so the common difference is d = 8.

They gave me five terms, so the sixth term of the sequence is going to be the very next term. I
find the next term by adding the common difference to the fifth term:

35 + 8 = 43

Then my answer is:

common difference: d = 8 sixth term: 43

Find the common ratio and the seventh term of the following sequence:

29,23,2,6,18

To find the common ratio, I have to divide a successive pair of terms. It doesn't matter which
pair I pick, as long as they're right next to each other. To be thorough, I'll do all the divisions:

( 23 ) = 2 • 9 =3
( 29 ) 3 2
2 2 3
= • =3
()
2
3
1 2

6
=3
2

18
=3
6

The ratio is always 3, so r = 3.

They gave me five terms, so the sixth term is the very next term; the seventh will be the term
after that. To find the value of the seventh term, I'll multiply the fifth term by the common ratio
twice:

a6 = (18)(3) = 54

a7 = (54)(3) = 162

Then my answer is:

common ratio: r = 3

seventh term: 162

Since arithmetic and geometric sequences are so nice and regular, they have formulas.

For arithmetic sequences, the common difference is d, and the first term a1 is often referred to
simply as "a". Since we get the next term by adding the common difference, the value of a2 is
just:

a2 = a + d

Continuing, the third term is:

a3 = (a + d) + d = a + 2d

The fourth term is:

a4 = (a + 2d) + d = a + 3d

At each stage, the common difference was multiplied by a value that was one less than the index.
Following this pattern, the n-th term an will have the form:

an = a + (n – 1)d

For geometric sequences, the common ratio is r, and the first term a1 is often referred to simply
as "a". Since we get the next term by multiplying by the common ratio, the value of a2 is just:

a2 = ar

Continuing, the third term is:

a3 = r(ar) = ar2

The fourth term is:

a4 = r(ar2) = ar3

At each stage, the common ratio was raised to a power that was one less than the index.
Following this pattern, the n-th term an will have the form:

an = ar(n – 1)
Find the n-th term and the first three terms of the arithmetic sequence having a4 = 93 and

a8 = 65.

Since a4 and a8 are four places apart, then I know from the definition of an arithmetic sequence
that I'd get from the fourth term to the eighth term by adding the common difference four times
to the fourth term; in other words, the definition tells me that a8 = a4 + 4d. Using this, I can then
solve for the common difference d:

65 = 93 + 4d
–28 = 4d
–7 = d

Also, I know that the fourth term relates to the first term by the formula a4 = a + (4 – 1)d, so,
using the value I just found for d, I can find the value of the first term a:

93 = a + 3(–7)
93 + 21 = a
114 = a

Now that I have the value of the first term and the value of the common difference, I can plug-n-
chug to find the values of the first three terms and the general form of the n-th term:

a1 = 114
a2 = 114 – 7 = 107
a3 = 107 – 7 = 100
an = 114 + (n – 1)(–7)
= 114 – 7n + 7 = 121 – 7n

Then my answer is:

n-th term: 121 – 7n

first three terms: 114, 107, 100

 5
Find the n-th and the 26th terms of the geometric sequence with a5 = and a12 = 160
4

The two terms for which they've given me numerical values are 12 – 5 = 7 places apart, so, from
the definition of a geometric sequence, I know that I'd get from the fifth term to the twelfth term
by multiplying the fifth term by the common ratio seven times; that is, a12 = (a5)( r7). I can use
this to solve for the value of the common ratio r:

160=(5/4)(r7)
128 = r7
2=r

Also, I know that the fifth term relates to the first by the formula a5 = ar4, so I can solve for the
value of the first term a:

5/4=a (24)=16a

Now that I have the value of the first term and the value of the common ratio, I can plug each
into the formula for the n-th term to get:

an=(5/64)2 n-1

=(5/26)(2 n-1)
=(5)(2-6)(2 n-1)
=5(2 n-7)

With this formula, I can evaluate the twenty-sixth term, and simplify:

a26=5(219)
=2,621,440

Then my answer is:

n-th term: 5⋅2 n-7

26th term: 2,621,440