MATH 2412/Purcell Section 11.

2 Guided Notes

SECTION 11.2 - ARITHMETIC SEQUENCES AND SERIES

Arithmetic Sequences

A(n) is a sequence in which each term after the

first differs from the preceding term by a fixed constant, called the

Illustration:

Example 1. Determine the common difference, d, for the arithmetic sequence

20, 13, 6, −1, −8 . . . .

Common Difference

If the common difference of an arithmetic sequence is d, then by the definition of

arithmetic sequence,

d=

for every positive integer n in the domain of the sequence. This equation can also be
written as

,
which can be used to generate successive terms of the sequence recursively.

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 MATH 2412/Purcell Section 11.2 Guided Notes

Example 2. Find the first five terms of each arithmetic sequence.

a. The first term is -14, and the common difference is 6.

b. a1 = 1.5, d = −0.5

nth Term of an Arithmetic Sequence

Given the first term a1 and the common difference d of an arithmetic sequence, how could
we calculate the nth term an of the sequence?

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 MATH 2412/Purcell Section 11.2 Guided Notes

nth Term of an Arithmetic Sequence

In an arithmetic sequence with first term a1 and common difference d, the nth term,
an , is given by the following.

an =

Example 3. Determine a16 and an for the arithmetic sequence

23, 20, 17, 14 . . . .

Example 4. Determine an and a10 for the arithmetic sequence having a4 = 18 and a5 = 22.

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 MATH 2412/Purcell Section 11.2 Guided Notes

Example 5. An arithmetic sequence has a6 = 9 and a15 = −36. Determine a1 .

Example 6. Write a formula for the nth term of the sequence an shown in the figure. What
are the domain and range of this sequence?

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 MATH 2412/Purcell Section 11.2 Guided Notes

Arithmetic Series

An arithmetic series is the sum of the terms of an arithmetic sequence.

Sum of the First n Terms of an Arithmetic Sequence

Given the first term a1 and the common difference d of an arithmetic sequence, how could
we calculate the sum Sn of the first n terms of the sequence?

Sum of the First n Terms of an Arithmetic Sequence

If an arithmetic sequence has first term a1 and common difference d, then the sum
Sn of the first n terms is given by the following.

Sn = or Sn =

The first formula is used when the first and last terms are known; other-
wise, the second formula is used.

Sn is called the nth partial sum of the series.

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 MATH 2412/Purcell Section 11.2 Guided Notes

Example 7. Evaluate S21 for the arithmetic sequence

48, 44, 40, 36, . . . .

Example 8. Evaluate the sum of the first 200 positive integers.

Example 9. The sum of the first 15 terms of an arithmetic sequence is 345. If a15 = 65,
find a1 and d.

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 MATH 2412/Purcell Section 11.2 Guided Notes

Example 10. Evaluate each sum.

12
X
a. (5i − 10)
i=1

10
X
b. (8 − 2k)
k=5

n
X
 Note from the above example that any sum of the form (di + c), where d and c are
i=1
real numbers, represents the sum of the terms of an arithmetic sequence.

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