Arithm

etic
Sequen
ces

ADD

Ifasequenceofvaluesfollowsa
patternofaddingafixed

amountfromonetermtothenext,
itisreferredtoas

arithmetic
sequence.Thenumber
an

addedtoeachtermisconstant
(alwaysthesame).
Thefixedamountiscalled
thecommon

difference,d,referringtothefact
thatthedifferencebetweentwo
successivetermsyieldstheconstant
valuethatwasadded.Tofindthe
commondifference,subtractthefirst
termfromthesecondterm.

Noticethelinearnatureofthescatterplotofthetermsofanarithmeticsequence.Thedomainconsistsof
thecountingnumbers1,2,3,4,...andtherangeconsistsofthetermsofthesequence.Whilethexvalue
increasesbyaconstantvalueofone,theyvalueincreasesbyaconstantvalueof3(forthisgraph).

Examples:
ArithmeticSequence
1,4,7,10,13,16,...

CommonDifference,d
d=3

add3toeachtermtoarriveatthenextterm,
or...thedifferencea2a1is3.

15,10,5,0,5,10,...

d=5

add5toeachtermtoarriveatthenextterm,
or...thedifferencea2a1is5.
add1/2toeachtermtoarriveatthenextterm,
or....thedifferencea2a1is1/2.

Formulasusedwitharithmetic
sequencesandarithmeticseries:
Tofindanyterm
ofanarithmeticsequence:

Tofindthesumofacertainnumberoftermso
anarithmeticsequence:

wherea1isthefirsttermofthesequence,
disthecommondifference,nisthenumberofthetermtofind.

a isoftensimplyreferredtoasa.

Note:

whereSnisthesumofnterms(nthpartialsum),
a1isthefirstterm,anisthenthterm.

Examples:
Question

Answer

1.Findthecommondifferenceforthis
arithmeticsequence
5,9,13,17...

1.Thecommondifference,d,canbefoundby
subtractingthefirsttermfromthesecondterm,
whichinthisproblemyields4.Checkingshows
that4isthedifferencebetweenalloftheentries.

2.Findthecommondifferenceforthe
arithmeticsequencewhoseformulais
an=6n+3

2.Theformulaindicatesthat6isthevaluebeing
added(withincreasingmultiples)astheterms
increase.Alistingofthetermswillalsoshow
whatishappeninginthesequence(startwithn=
1).

9,15,21,27,33,...
Thelistshowsthecommondifferencetobe6.

3.Findthe10thtermofthesequence
3,5,7,9,...

3.n=10;a1=3,d=2

Thetenthtermis21.

4.Finda7foranarithmeticsequence
where
a1=3xandd=x.

4.n=7;a1=3x,d=x

5.Findt15foranarithmeticsequence
where
t3=4+5iandt6=13+11i

5.Noticethechangeoflabelingfromatot.The
letterusedinlabelingisofnoimportance.Geta
visualimageofthisproblem

Usingthethirdtermasthe"first"term,findthe
commondifferencefromtheseknownterms.

Now,fromt3tot15is13terms.
t15=4+5i+(131)(3+2i)=4+5i36+24i
=40+29i

6.Findaformulaforthesequence
1,3,5,7,...

6.Aformulawillrelatethesubscriptnumberof
eachtermtotheactualvalueoftheterm.

Substitutingn=1,gives1.
Substitutingn=2,gives3,andsoon.

7.Findthe25thtermofthesequence
7,4,1,2,...

7.n=25;a1=7,d=3

8.Findthesumofthefirst12positive
even
integers.

8.Theword"sum"indicatestheneedforthe
sumformula.
positiveevenintegers:2,4,6,8,...
n=12;a1=2,d=2
Wearemissinga12,forthesumformula,sowe
usethe"anyterm"formulatofindit.

Now,let'sfindthesum:

9.Insert3arithmeticmeansbetween7
and23.

Note:Anarithmeticmeanis
thetermbetweenanytwoterms
ofanarithmeticsequence.Itis
simplytheaverage(mean)ofthe
giventerms.

9.Whilethereareseveralsolutionmethods,we
willuseourarithmeticsequenceformulas.
Drawapicturetobetterunderstandthesituation.
7,____,____,____,23
Thissetoftermswillbeanarithmeticsequence.
Weknowthefirstterm,a1,thelastterm,an,but
notthecommondifference,d.Thisquestion
makesNOmentionof"sum",soavoidthat
formula.
Findthecommondifference:

Now,insertthetermsusingd.
7,11,15,19,23

10.Findthenumberoftermsinthe
sequence
7,10,13,...,55.

10.a1=7,an=55,d=3.Weneedtofindn.
ThisquestionmakesNOmentionof"sum",so
avoidthatformula.

Whensolvingforn,besureyouranswerisa
positiveinteger.Thereisnosuchthingasa
fractionalnumberoftermsinasequence!

11.Atheaterhas60seatsinthefirst
row,68seatsinthesecondrow,76
seatsinthethirdrow,andsooninthe
sameincreasingpattern.Ifthetheater
has20rowsofseats,howmanyseats
areinthetheater?

11.Theseatingpatternisforminganarithmetic
sequence.
60,68,76,...
Wewishtofind"thesum"ofalloftheseats.
n=20,a1=60,d=8andweneeda20forthe
sum.

Now,usethesumformula:

Thereare2720seats.

Geome
tric
Sequen MULTIP
LY
ces
Ifasequenceofvaluesfollowsa

patternofmultiplyingafixed

amount(notzero)timeseachterm
toarriveatthefollowingterm,itis

geometric
sequence.Thenumber

referredtoasa

multipliedeachtimeisconstant

(alwaysthesame).
Thefixedamountmultipliedis
calledthecommon

ratio,r,referringtothefactthat
theratio(fraction)ofthesecondterm
tothefirsttermyieldsthiscommon
multiple.Tofindthecommonratio,
dividethesecondtermbythefirst
term.

Noticethenonlinearnatureofthescatterplotofthetermsofageometricsequence.Thedomain
consistsofthecountingnumbers1,2,3,4,...andtherangeconsistsofthetermsofthesequence.While
thexvalueincreasesbyaconstantvalueofone,theyvalueincreasesbymultiplesoftwo(forthis
graph).

Examples:
GeometricSequence

CommonRatio,r

5,10,20,40,...

r=2

multiplyeachtermby2toarriveatthenextterm
or...dividea2bya1tofindthecommonratio,2.

11,22,44,88,...

r=2

multiplyeachtermby2toarriveatthenextterm
.or...dividea2bya1tofindthecommonratio,2.

multiplyeachtermby2/3toarriveatthenexttermor...dividea2bya1to
commonratio,2/3.

Formulasusedwithgeometricsequencesandgeometric
series:
Tofindanyterm
ofageometricsequence:

Tofindthesumofacertainnumberoftermsof
ageometricsequence:

wherea1isthefirsttermofthesequence,
risthecommonratio,nisthenumberofthetermtofind.

a isoftensimplyreferredtoasa.

Note:

whereSnisthesumofnterms(nthpartialsum),
a1isthefirstterm,risthecommonration.

Examples:
Question

Answer

1.Findthecommonratioforthe
sequence

1.Thecommonratio,r,canbefoundbydividing

2.Findthecommonratioforthe
sequencegivenbytheformula

2.Theformulaindicatesthat3isthecommonratio

3.Findthe7thtermofthesequence
2,6,18,54,...

thesecondtermbythefirstterm,whichinthis
problemyields1/2.Checkingshowsthat
multiplyingeachentryby1/2yieldsthenextentry.

byitspositionintheformula.Alistingoftheterms
willalsoshowwhatishappeninginthesequence
(startwithn=1).
5,15,45,135,...
Thelistalsoshowsthecommonratiotobe3.

3.n=7;a1=2,r=3

Theseventhtermis1458.

4.Findthe11thtermofthe
sequence

4.n=11;a1=1,r=1/2

5.Finda8forthesequence
0.5,3.5,24.5,171.5,...

5.n=8;a1=0.5,r=7

6.Evaluateusingaformula:

6.Examinethesummation

Thisisageometricserieswithacommonratioof3.
n=5;a1=3,r=3

7.Findthesumofthefirst8terms
ofthe
sequence
5,15,45,135,...

7.Theword"sum"indicatesaneedforthesum
formula.
n=8;a1=5,r=3

8.Thethirdtermofageometric
sequenceis3andthesixthtermis
1/9.Findthefirstterm.

8.Thinkofthesequenceas"startingwith"3,until
youfindthecommonratio.

Forthismodifiedsequence:a1=3,a4=1/9,
n=4

Now,workbackwardmultiplyingby3(ordividing
by1/3)tofindtheactualfirstterm.
a1=27

9.Aballisdroppedfromaheightof
8feet.Theballbouncesto80%of
itspreviousheightwitheach
bounce.Howhigh(tothenearest
tenthofafoot)doestheballbounce
onthefifthbounce?

9.Setupamodeldrawingforeach"bounce".
6.4,5.12,___,___,___
Thecommonratiois0.8.

Answer:2.6feet