Mathematics 10

Handouts No. 1

Name: ______________________________________________ Date: _____________________

HARMONIC SEQUENCE AND SERIES

AND THE FIBONACCI SEQUENCE

In this lesson, we will explore harmonic sequence, series, and means and another famous sequence the
Fibonacci Sequence.

________________________________
You are already familiar with the arithmetic sequence. The reciprocals of the _______________________
form another sequence called the harmonic sequence.

Math and Music

The term harmonics is often associated with musical instruments.

A tone which is twice the frequency of the fundamental frequency
is called the second harmonic. A tone which is thrice the frequency
of the fundamental frequency is called the third harmonic.

In a guitar, the length of the string is proportional to the number of

vibrations of the string per second. Thus, a set of strings whose lengths
are proportional produces a harmonious sound.

If x is the length of the string of a guitar, then the sequence of the lengths of the string is
1 1 1
, 2 , 3 , 4 , or , 2 , 3 , 4 ,

The sequence produced is an example of a harmonic sequence. Notice that if we get the reciprocal of
each term, the sequence formed is arithmetic (1, 2, 3, 4, ).

Determine whether the following sequences are harmonic or not. Write H if harmonic and N if not.
1 1 1
1. , ,
2 4 6
1 1 1 1
2. , , ,
2 3 4 5
1 1 1 1
3. , , ,
5 8 10 12
4 2 4
4. , ,
3 3 9
1 1 1 1
5. , , .,
7 11 13 14

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 A sequence whose reciprocals form an arithmetic sequence is called a harmonic sequence.
The nth term of a harmonic sequence is given by:
1
=
1 +(1)

1 1 1
Example 1 Find the 8th term of this harmonic sequence. 2 , 4 , 6 ,

Solution 1 = 2, = 2, =8
1 Study Tip
= 1 +(1)

8 =
1 1 and d here refers to the first term
2+(81)2 and difference of the arithmetic
1
8 = sequence formed by the denominators
16
1 of the harmonic sequence.
Hence, the 8th term is 16.

Try this! Find the indicated term of each harmonic sequence

1 1 1
a. Find the 15th term of this harmonic sequence. 3 , 6 , 9 ,

1 1 1 1
b. Find the 10th term of this harmonic sequence. , , ,
8 13 18 23

1 3 3 1
c. Find the 21st term of this harmonic sequence. 6 , 19 , 20 , 7

1 1 1
d. Find the 99th term of this harmonic sequence. 3 , 9 , 15

____________________________

A harmonic mean is the reciprocal of the ___________________ of the given sequence.

1 1
Example 1 Insert a harmonic mean between 5
and 13
.
5+13 18
Solution: Mean =. = =9
2 2
1 1 1
Thus, the harmonic mean between 5 and 13
is 9.

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 1 1
Example 2 Insert five harmonic means between and .
4 22
Solution: Find the common difference of the arithmetic sequence whose
1 = 4, = 7, and 7 = 22.
= 1 + ( 1)
7 = 1 + ( 1)
22 = 4 + (7 1)
22 = 4 + 6
6 = 22 4
6 = 18
6 18
6
= 6
=3

Thus the arithmetic sequence is 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22.

By getting the reciprocals of the arithmetic means, we obtain the harmonic means
1 1
between 4
and 22
.

1 1 1 1 1 1 1
, , , , , ,
4 7 10 13 16 19 22

5
Example 3 Insert three harmonic means between 5 and 9.
Solution: Find the common difference of the arithmetic sequence whose
1 9
1 = 5, = 5, and 5 = 5.
= 1 + ( 1)
5 = 1 + ( 1)
9 1
= +(5 1)
5 5
9 1
5
= +4
5
9 = 1 + 20 Multiply both sides by 5 to clear the fractions.
20 = 9 1
20 = 8
20 8
=
20 20
2
= 5

1 3 7 9
Thus the arithmetic sequence is 5, 5, 1, 5, 5.
By getting the reciprocals of the arithmetic means, we obtain the harmonic means
5 5 5 5
Between 5 and 9. 5, 3
, 1, 7
, 9

1 1
Try this! a. Insert a harmonic mean between 7
and 19
.

1 1
b. Insert four harmonic means between 4 and 20

c. Insert three harmonic means between 2 and 37.

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____________________________

Harmonic series is the infinite series whose terms are in harmonic progression especially the series 1 +
1 1 1
+ + +
2 3 4

The harmonic series is obtained by summing the reciprocals of the positive integers:

1 1 1 1
=1+ + + +
2 3 4
=1

There is no given formula for a harmonic series. We simply complete the set of series and take the sum.
Examples:
1 1 1
1. Find the sum of the first six terms of the harmonic sequence , , ,
3 5 7
Solution: Take the reciprocals.
3, 5, 7,
1 = 3 =2

So 4 = 3 + 3(2) = 9
5 = 3 + 4(2) = 11
6 = 3 + 5(2) = 13
Complete the harmonic progression.
1 1 1 1 1 1
, , , , ,
3 5 7 9 11 13
Sum up the terms.
1
6 =
3
+ 15 + 17 + 19 + 11
1 1
+ 13 = 0.955

1
2. The first term of a harmonic sequence is 3 and the common difference is 3. Find the sum of the first three
terms.
1 1 1
Solution: 3 = 3 + 6 + 9
11
3 = 18

Try this! Find the sum of the following harmonic sequences.

1 1 1
a. Find the sum of the first 5 terms of the harmonic sequence + +
5 9 13

1 1
b. Find the sum of the first 6 terms of the harmonic sequence 1, , , ..
2 3

1 1 1
c. Find the sum of the first 8 terms of the harmonic sequence + + , ..
2 4 6

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_________________________

An Italian mathematician named Leonardo Fibonacci described and analyzed the Rabbit Problem
in his book Liber Abaci, which was published in 1202.

The Rabbit Problem

A rabbit colony begins with a pair of newborn rabbits, one male and one female. It is nature of newborn
rabbits to mature in one month. Each mature rabbit pair mates once per month and gives birth to another
pair a month later.

Fibonacci considers the growth of an idealized rabbit population with these assumptions:
in the first month there is just one newborn pair
newborn pairs become fertile from their second month on
each month every fertile pair begets a new pair
the rabbits never die

The tree diagram below shows the growth of the colony for the first 5 months.

Number of Pairs of
Number of Months
Rabbits Bred
1 1

2 1

3 2

4 3

5 5
How many rabbit pairs are bred on the 6th month? __________
7th month? ___________
8th month? ___________
The numbers of rabbit pairs every month form the sequence _____________________. This
sequence is called the ___________________________. Notice that it is neither arithmetic nor geometric.

The next term after the first two terms in a Fibonacci Sequence is obtained by adding the two
preceding terms. To illustrate:
1 = 1
2 = 1
3 = 1 + 2 = 1 + 1 = 2
4 = 2 + 3 = 2 + 1 = 3
5 = 3 + 4 = 2 + 3 = 5
6 = 4 + 5 = 3 + 5 = 8

The nth of a Fibonacci Sequence can be obtained by the formula

= 1 + 2 for n > 2
This pattern can be written as a formula.
Find the indicated term of the Fibonacci Sequence.
1. 9th term
2. 11th term
3. 13th term

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4. 22nd term

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