WORD PROBLEMS

INVOLVING SEQUENCES
OBJECTIVE: SOLVE PROBLEMS INVOLVING
SEQUENCES
FORMULA
Nth term of an Arithmetic Sequence
𝑎 𝑛= 𝑎1 + ( 𝑛 − 1 ) 𝑑
One Arithmetic Mean
𝑎 1+𝑎 3
𝐴 𝑟𝑖𝑡h𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛=
2
Common Difference
𝑎 𝑛 − 𝑎𝑘
𝑑=
𝑛 −𝑘
FORMULA
Arithmetic Series 𝑛
𝑆𝑛 = (𝑎 1+ 𝑎𝑛 )
2
One Geometric Mean
𝐺 𝑒𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛=± √ 𝑎𝑏

√ 𝑎𝑛
Common Ratio
𝑛−𝑘
𝑟=
𝑎𝑘
FORMULA
Nth term of Geometric Sequence
𝑛− 1
𝑎 𝑛= 𝑎1 𝑟
Geometric Series (Finite)
𝑛
𝑎 1 (1− 𝑟 ) 𝑛 𝑎 1 (𝑟 −1)
𝑆𝑛 = or 𝑆𝑛 =
1− 𝑟 𝑟 −1
Geometric Series (Infinite)
𝑎1
𝑆∞=
1 −𝑟
FORMULA
Problem about Depreciation (nth term)
𝑃 𝑛= 𝑃 1 ¿
Problem about Appreciation (nth term)

𝑃 𝑛= 𝑃 1 ¿
EXAMPLE
1. For the first year of new job, you make P70,000. You
get an annual raise each year of 3%. Find out the total
money you will make in 5 years.
No. of Years Salary 3% rate TOTAL
1 70000   70000
2 70000 2100 72100
3 72100 2163 74263
4 74263 2227.89 76490.89
5 76490.89 2294.7267 78785.6167
      371639.5067
 EXAMPLE
1. For the first year of new job, you make P70,000. You
get an annual raise each year of 3%. Find out the total
money you will make in 5 years.
𝑛 70000(1.1592740743 −1)
𝑎 1 (𝑟 −1) 𝑆5 =
0.03
𝑆𝑛 =
𝑟 −1 𝑆5 =
70000(0.1592740743)
0.03
70000(1.035 −1)
𝑆5 = 11,149.19
1.03 −1 𝑆5 =
0.03
𝑺𝟓=𝟑𝟕𝟏 , 𝟔𝟑𝟗 . 𝟓𝟏 𝒑𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒔
 EXAMPLE
2. A stadium with 80 rows has 20 seats in the first row, 30
in the second, 40 in the third, and so on. How many total
seats are in the stadium? 𝑛
Sequence: 20, 30, 40, …, a80 𝑆𝑛 = (𝑎 1+ 𝑎𝑛 )
2
𝑎 𝑛= 𝑎1 + ( 𝑛 − 1 ) 𝑑 80
𝑎 80 =20+ ( 80 − 1 ) (10) 𝑆 80 = (20+ 810)
2
𝑎 80 =20+(79)(10)
𝑆 80 =40(830)
𝑎 80 =20+(790)
𝑎 80 =810 seats
EXAMPLE
3. A gardener plans to construct a trapezoidal shaped
structure in his garden. The longer side of trapezoid needs
to start with a row of 99 bricks. Each row must be
decreased by 2 bricks on each end and the construction
should stop at 25th row. How many bricks does he need to
buy? Row 25

Row 3: 91 bricks
Row 2: 95 bricks
Row 1: 99 bricks
3. A gardener plans to construct a trapezoidal shaped
structure in his garden. The longer side of trapezoid needs
to start with a row of 99 bricks. Each row must be
decreased by 2 bricks on each end and the construction
should stop at 25th row. How many bricks does he need to
buy? 𝑛
𝑆𝑛 = (𝑎 1+ 𝑎𝑛 )
Sequence: 99, 95, 91, …, a25 2
𝑎 𝑛= 𝑎1 + ( 𝑛 − 1 ) 𝑑 25
𝑆 25= (99+3)
𝑎 25 =99+ ( 25 −1 ) (− 4) 2
𝑎 25 =99+ ( 24 ) (− 4 ) 25
𝑆 25= (102)
𝑎 25 =99+(− 96) 2
𝑎 =3 𝑆 25=1275 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑠
25
ACTIVITY
1. A car travels 300m the first minute, 400m the next
minute, 500m the third minute, and so on. What’s the total
distance the car travels in 5 minutes?

2. A new website got 3000 page views on the first day.

During the next 4days, the number of page views increased
by 30% per day. What’s the total amount of page views in
the first 5 days? Round your answer to the nearest whole
number.
 ACTIVITY
3. Lany is practicing her dance steps for the competition. She
starts practicing the steps for 1 hour on the first day and then
increases the practice time by 10 minutes each day. If the
pattern continues, how many minutes will she spend practicing
on the 7th day?

4. A line is divided into six parts forming a geometric sequence.

If the shortest length is 2cm and the longest is 64 cm, find the
length of the whole line.