Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CHAPTER 1 : PROGRESSIONS
ARITHMETIC PROGRESSION
Determining an Arithmetic Progression
1) Determine whether each of the following sequences is an arithmetic progression.
(a) 5, 9, 13, 17,....
(b) -9, -7, -5, -3,....
1
2
1
2
Copyright www.epitomeofsuccess.com
Page 1
2n 2 3n
. Find
2
(a) the value of the first term and the common difference,
(b) the ninth term of the progression.
19) The first three terms of an AP are k, 2k+1 and 5k-1. Find
(a) the value of k,
(b) the sum of the first seventh terms of the progression.
20) The first three terms of an AP are 7, 11 and 15. Find
(a) the common difference of the progression,
(b) the sum of the next seven terms.
21) The eight term of an AP is 4m+6 and the sum of the first five terms of the progression is
9m-4 where m is a constant. Given that the common difference of the progression is 4, find
the value of m.
Copyright www.epitomeofsuccess.com
Page 2
rad. On
6
each subsequent sector, its radii are increased by 3 cm compared to the previous one. Given
that the length of arc of the nth sector is 5 cm, find
(a) the radius of the nth sector,
(b) the value of n,
(c) the sum of the radii of the first twelve sectors.
GEOMETRIC PROGRESSIONS
Determining a Geometric Progression
26) State whether each of the following sequences is a geometric progression.
(a) 1, 5, 25, 125,....
(b) 2,
1 1 1
, , ,...
2 4 8
Copyright www.epitomeofsuccess.com
Page 3
m cm
16
, k, ... , express k in terms of h.
h
29) The first three terms of a sequence are 4, x, 16. Find the value(s) of x so that the sequence is
(a) an arithmetic progression,
(b) a geometric progression.
1 1 1
, , , ... .
2 8 32
31) Given that x-2, x-1 and 3x-5 are the first three terms of a GP, find
(a) the possible values of x,
(b) the eighth term of the GP for x>2.
32) The third and sixth terms of a GP are 36 and 972 respectively. Find
(a) the first terms and common ratio,
(b) the seventh term of a GP.
33) The second term of a geometric progression exceeds the first term by 4 and the sum of the
second and third terms is 24. Find
(a) the first term and common ratio,
(b) the sixth term for each of the possible geometric progressions.
Number of terms in geometric progressions
34) How many terms are there in the GP -2, 4, -8, 16, ... 1024 ?
1
2
9
?
32
36) Which is the first term of the GP 3, 6, 12, ... to exceed 300?
37) Which is the first term of the GP 8, 4, 2, ... that is less than
Copyright www.epitomeofsuccess.com
1
?
100
Page 4
1 1 1
, , , ... up to the first six terms
8 4 2
Copyright www.epitomeofsuccess.com
Page 5
4 8
, ,...
3 9
49) The sum to infinity of a certain GP is 36. If the first term is 12, find the common ratio.
1
is 27. Find the first term.
3
2
8
51) The third and second terms of a GP are 2 and
respectively. Find
3
81
50) The sum to infinity of a GP with common ratio
1
2
and the third term is 2 . Calculate
3
3
2
of the previous height. Find
3
(a) The height that the ball bounces up after it hits the surface for the tenth time,
(b) The total distance the ball travels before it stops bouncing.
Copyright www.epitomeofsuccess.com
Page 6
(a) Show that the areas of the semicircles with radii PS, PT, PU... form a GP and state its
common ratio.
(b) If PR = 18cm and this sequence of the semicircles is constructed indefinitely, find the
sum of the areas of all semicircles.
58) The diagram shows the arrangement of the first three of an infinite series of similar triangles.
The base and height of the first triangle are x cm and y cm respectively. The measurements of
the base and height of each subsequent triangle are half of the measurements of its previous
one.
(a) Show that the areas of the triangle form a GP and state its common ratio.
(b) Given that x=8cm and y=12cm,
3
cm 2 ,
4
(i)
(ii)
Copyright www.epitomeofsuccess.com
Page 7