Sequence and series

 AP :-

 General formula = (a),(a+d),(a+2d)……….,(a+(n-1)d)

 Sum of n terms =
d = common difference
a = first term
 Sn =
n = nth term
L = last term
 Sn = Sn = Sum of the n terms
 d = an - an-1
 an = Sn - Sn-1
 Nth term of an AP is of the form An + b i.e., a linear expression in
‘n’, in such a case the coefficient of n is the common difference of
the AP. i.e. A.
 Sum of the first ‘n’ terms of an AP is of the form An 2 +Bn i.e. a
quadratic expression in ‘n’, in such case the common difference is
twice the coefficient of n2 . i.e. 2A.
 If there are only :
 3 numbers in a AP = (a-d),(a),(a+d)
 4 numbers in a AP = (a-3d),(a-d),(a+d),(a+3d)
 5 numbers in a AP = (a-2d),(a-d),(a),(a+d),(a+2d)
 6 numbers in a AP =(a-5d),(a-3d),(a-d),(a+d),(a+3d),(a+5d)…..
 k term from the last = (n-k+1)th term from the beginning
th

 The sum of two terms of an AP equidistant from the beginning and

end is constant and equal to the sum of first and last terms.
⇒ Tk + Tn-k+1 = constant = a+l
 Any tern of an AP (except the first) is equal to the half the sum of the
terms which are equidistant from it.

 an =

for k = 1, an = ; for k = 2,an = and so on.

 If a,b,c are in AP,then 2b = a+c

 GP :-

 GP is a sequence of non zero numbers each of the succeeding term

is equal to the preceding term multiplied by a constant. Thus in a GP
the ratio of successive terms is constant. This constant factor is
called the common ratio of the sequence and is obtained by dividing
any term by the immediately previous term.
 Therefore,a,ar,ar2,ar3,ar4….. is a GP with ‘a’ as the first term and ‘r’ as
common ratio.
 If each term of a GP can be multiplied or divided by the same non-
zero quantity, then the resulting sequence is also a GP.
 If there are only :

 3 numbers in a GP =

 4 numbers in a GP = and so on…..

 If a,b,c are in GP then b = ac.
2

If in a GP The product of two terms equidistant from the first and

last term is constant and equal to the product of first term last
term. ⇒ Tk + Tn-k+1 = constant = a*l
 If each term of GP be raised to the same power, then resulting
sequences are also a GP.
 In a GP,
 If the terms of a given GP are chosen at regular intervals, then the
new sequence is also a GP.
 If a1,a2,a3..an is a GP of positive terms, then log a1,log a2,……log an is
an AP and vice versa.
 If a1,a2,a3... and b1,b2,b3.…are two GP’s then a1b1,a2b2,a3b3… and

…… is also in GP (bi ≠ 0 for all i)

 HP :-

 The sequence is set to be in HP with the reciprocal of its terms are

in AP.

 If the sequence a1,a2,a3…,an is an HP then is an

AP.Here we do not have the formula for the sum of the n terms of an

HP.The general form of HP is = .

 No term of any HP can be 0 .
 If a, b, c are in HP

then b =
 Means :-

(i) Arithmetic Mean =

 If three terms are in AP then the middle term is called the AM
between the other two, so if a ,b,c are in AP,b is AM of a and c. So

AM of a and c =
 N arithmetic mean between 2 numbers
 If a, b be any two given numbers and a,a1,a2,….,an,b are in AP,
then a,a1,a2,,,,,an are the ‘n’ AM’s between a and b then a1 =a+d, a2

= a+2d,…….,an=a+nd or b-d where d = .

⇒ a1 = a2 =
 Sum of n AM’s inserted between a and b is equal to n times

the single AM between a and b i.e. where a is the single

AM between a and b.

(ii) Geometric Mean =

 If a ,b,c are in GP,b is GM between a and c, b2 = ac. So GM of a and
c=
 N Geometric mean between 2 numbers
 If a, b be any two given positive numbers and a,G1,G2,….,Gn,b
are in GP, then G1,G2……,Gn are ‘n’ GM’s between a and b

⇒ G1 = G2 =

Gn = where
 The product of n GMs between a nd v is equal to the nth

power of the single GM between a and b i.e. where

G is the single GM between a and b.

(iii) Harmonic Mean =

 If a ,b,c are in HP,b is HM between a and c. So GM of a and c =

 Insertion of ‘n’ HM’s between a and b

 a,H1,H2,H3,……Hn,b ⇒ HP
  ⇒ AP

 Arithmetico-Geometric series:-
 A series, each term of which is formed by multiplying the
corresponding term of an AP&GP is called arithmetico-geometric
series. E.g. 1+3x+5x2+7x3
Here 1,3,5,….. are in AP and 1,x,x2,x3,…. are in GP.

 Sum of n terms of an arithmetico-geometric series

 Let Sn = a+(a+d)r+(a+2d)r2+…..+[a+(n-1)d]rn-1

 Then Sn =
 Sum to infinity
 If 0 < lrl < 1 and n--> ∞ , then

 Sigma Notations :-
Theorems

 where k is a constant.
 Standard Results of Sigma :-

 (Sum of the first n natural numbers)

 (Sum of the squares of the first n natural

numbers)

 (Sum of the cubes of the first n natural

numbers)
 

 (Sum of first n odd natural numbers)

 (Sum of first n even natural numbers)

 Method of Difference:-
 Sometimes the nth term of a sequence or a series cannot be
determined by the method. So, to compute the difference between
the successive terms of given sequence for obtained the nth terms.
If T1,T2,T3…Tn are the terms T2-T1,T3-T2………… constitute an AP/GP.
Nth term of the series is determined and the sum to n terms of the
sequence can easily be obtained.
 Case - 1
 If difference series are in AP then
Let Tn = an2+bn+c where a,b and c are constant
 If difference of difference series are in AP then
Let Tn = an3+bn2+cn+d where a,b,c and d are constant

 Case - 2
 If difference series are in GP then
Let Tn = arn+b where r is common ratio and a and b are
constant
 If difference of difference series are in GP then
Let Tn = an3+bn+c where r is common ratio and a,b,c are
constant.
Sn =