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Sequences and Series

Foundational Mathematics
Lecture 11 & 12

Recognizing arithmetic sequences and series and

geometric sequences and series, their applications
This lecture and its associated materials have been produced by Dr. Wittaya Kanchanapusakit (PhD, Cambridge) of
iAcademy for the purposes of lecturing on the above described subject and the material should be viewed in this
context. The work does not constitute professional advice and no warranties are made regarding the information
presented. The Author and iAcademy do not accept any liability for the consequences of any action taken as a result
of the work or any recommendations made or inferred. Permission to use any of these materials must be first
granted by iAcademy.

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Agenda
• Week 11 Lecture Material
❑ Sequences and series
❑ Arithmetic sequences
❑ Arithmetic series
❑ Applications
❑ Geometric sequences
❑ Geometric series
❑ Applications

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Introduction (1)
• We can unlock digital
lock by entering the
correct sequence of
numbers.

• Pilot performs the same

sequence of checks
before taking off.

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Introduction (2)
• For entertainment, we play game of Sequence

• Sequences can be seen all around us

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Define Sequences (1)

• Sequence: a list of numbers in a particular
order
• For example, if n is a natural number, the
function f(n) = 2n – 1 generates
f(1) = 2(1) – 1 = 1
f(2) = 2(2) – 1 = 3
f(3) = 2(3) – 1 = 5
f(n) = 2(n) – 1 = 2n – 1
And so on
We have sequence 1, 3, 5, ….. 2n – 1
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Define Sequences (2)

• From the sequence
1, 3, 5, 7, …. 2n – 1
• The first term, denoted by a1, is 1
a1 = 1
• The second term, denoted by a2, is 3
a2 = 3
• The nth term, denoted by an, is 2n – 1
an = 2n – 1
• Expression an = 2n – 1 generates a1, a2, a3, …
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Define Sequences (3)

• Example: Find the first four terms of the
sequence with an = n2 + 1.
• Find a1 = (1)2 + 1 = 2
a2 = (2)2 + 1 = 5
a3 = (3)2 + 1 = 10
a4 = (4)2 + 1 = 17
• The sequence is 2, 5, 10, 17, …
• The list goes on.
⇒ Infinite sequence
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Define Sequence (4)

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Recurrence Relation
• A sequence can be defined recursively.
• Giving its first term a1 and a rule showing how
to obtain the next term (recurrence relation)
• For example, given a1 = 5 (first term)
And an+1 = 3an – 2 (recurrence
relation)
n = 1:a2 = 3a1 – 2 = 3(5) – 2 = 13
n = 2:a3 = 3a2 – 2 = 3(13) – 2 = 37
n = 3:a4 = 3a2 – 2 = 3(37) – 2 = 109
• Sequence 5, 13, 37, 109, …
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Exercise: Sequences (1)

Try this by yourself.
Find the first 5 terms of the sequence whose
nth term is an = n2 – n
a1 = 12 – 1 = 0
a2 = 22 – 2 = 2
a3 = 32 – 3 = 6
a4 = 42 – 4 = 12
a5 = 52 – 5 = 20
Sequence is 0, 2, 6, 12, 20, …
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Define Series (1)

• Consider a sequence
1, 3, 5, 7, 9, …., 2n – 1
• We can replace the comma between terms with
a + sign to add terms.
• The result is series
1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + ….. + (2n – 1)
• Series is the sum of terms in the sequence.
• For infinite sequence, the number of terms in
the series is also infinite.
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Define Series (2)

• Consider a sequence with an = n2
Sequence: 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, … (infinite sequence)
Series: 1 + 4 + 9 + 16 + 25 + …
• If a sequence is finite, the number of term in the
series is also finite.
• Consider
Sequence: 3, 7, 11, 15 (finite
sequence)
Series: 3 + 7 + 11 + 15
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Alternating Series
• Consider an = (-1)n 3n
Sequence: -3, 6, -9, 12, - 15, …
Series: – 3 + 6 – 9 +12 – 15 + …
• If the sign between successive terms in a series
alternate, the series is called an alternating
series.
• Another example of alternating series:
The nth term is an = (-1)n 2n
The series is -2 + 4 - 8 + 16 - …
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Summation Notation (1)

• Summation notation is a shorthand way to
indicate the sum of the first n terms.
• For example,

• Let, an = (2n + 1)

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Summation Notation (2)

• Example: Evaluate

• Note that n runs from 1 to 5 :

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Summation Notation (3)

• In summation, n does not always start from n = 1.
• Consider

• Note that n runs from n = 3 to n = 5 (3 terms)

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Summation of a Constant
• Consider an = constant
For example, an = 4
The sequence is 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, …. (every term is
4)
Series is 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + …
• Then,

• If c is a constant,
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Exercise: Summation (1)

Try this by yourself.
Evaluate

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Exercise: Summation (2)

Try this by yourself.
Evaluate

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Arithmetic Sequence (1)

• Consider the following sequence:
2, 7, 12, 17, 22, …

+5 +5 +5 +5

• Can you spot the pattern of numbers?

• We add 5 to each term to obtain the next term.
⇒ Increasing sequence

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Arithmetic Sequence (2)

• Consider the following sequence:
20, 17, 14, 11, 8, …

-3 -3 -3 -3

• Can you spot the pattern of numbers?

• We add - 3 to each term to obtain the next term.
⇒ Decreasing sequence

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Arithmetic Sequence (3)

• The above examples are arithmetic sequences.
• An arithmetic sequence is of the form
a, a + d, a + 2d, a + 3d, … a + (n-1)d

+d +d +d +d

Note a is the first term, a + (n – 1)d is the nth

term and d is the common difference.
• Arithmetic sequence
an = a + (n – 1)d
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Arithmetic Sequence (4)

• If common difference d is positive
⇒ Increasing sequence
E.g. 4, 12, 20, 28, 36, … (d = 8)
• If common difference d is negative
⇒ Decreasing sequence
E.g. 7, 3, -1, -5, -9, … (d = - 4)
• Common difference :
(Any term - the term before) in arithmetic seq.

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Arithmetic Sequence (5)

• Example: Write the first 3 terms and the 21st
term of an arithmetic sequence with a first term
of 7 and a common difference of 5.
• Know that a = 7 and d = 5.
The sequence is 7, 12, 17, …
• From an = a + (n – 1)d
= 7 + (n – 1)5
Substitute n = 21 to get
a21 = 7 + (20)(5) = 107
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Exercise: Arithmetic Sequence (1)

Try this by yourself.
Write the first five terms and the 18th term of
an arithmetic sequence with a first term of 3
and a common difference of 6.
We know that a = 3 and d = 6
Sequence is 3, 9, 15, 21, 27, … ( 5
terms)
From an = a + (n – 1)d
a18 = 3 + (18 – 1)(6)
= 105
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Exercise: Arithmetic Sequence (2)

Try this by yourself.
The first three terms of an arithmetic sequence
are 3, 8 and 13. Find the 50th term.
Arithmetic sequence is 3, 8, 13, ….
⇒ first term a = 3
⇒ common difference d = 5
From an = a + (n – 1)d
a50 = 3 + (50 – 1)(5)
= 248
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Arithmetic Means (1)

• Numbers inserted between a first and last term
to form a segment of an arithmetic sequence
are call arithmetic means.
• Consider 4, ___, ___, ___, 16
• We can add three numbers 7, 10, 13 in between
to make an arithmetic sequence (d = 3).
• Hence, we have arithmetic sequence
4, 7, 10, 13, 16

Arithmetic means
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Arithmetic Means (2)

• Example: Insert three arithmetic means between
-5 and 19
• Write -5, __, __, __, 19

+d +d +d +d

• Hence, we have -5 + 4d = 19
d = 6
• The three arithmetic means are 1, 7, 13

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Exercise: Arithmetic Means

Try this by yourself.
Insert two arithmetic means between 10 and 20.
Write 10, __, __, 20

+d +d +d

Hence, 10 + 3d = 20
3d = 10
d = 10/3
Arithmetic means are 40/3 and 50/3
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Arithmetic Series (1)

• Recall that series is just adding terms in the
sequence.
• Consider an arithmetic sequence
a, a + d, a + 2d, a + 3d, …. a + (n – 1)d
• We can find arithmetic series by adding all
terms:
a + (a + d) + (a + 2d) + (a + 3d) + … [a + (n –
1)d]
• For small n, we can add by hand. How about if
we have large n?
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Arithmetic Series (2)

• We want to find the sum of the first nth terms
in an arithmetic series,
a + a2 + a3 + … an
• Use the formula
First term
Sum of n terms Last term

Number of terms
required
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Arithmetic Series (3)

• Example: Find the sum of the first 30 terms of
the arithmetic series 5 + 8 + 11 + ….
• Here, first term a = 5, common difference d = 3
number of terms required n = 30
last term in the series
a30 = a + (30 – 1)d = 5 + 29(3) = 92
• Find the sum 5 + 8 + 11 + … 92 (30 terms)

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Exercise: Arithmetic Series (1)

Try this by yourself.
Find the sum of the first 50 terms of the
arithmetic series -2 + 5 + 12 + …
a = -2, d = 7, n = 50
From an = a + (n – 1)d
a50 = -2 + (50 – 1)(7) = 341
Sum -2 + 5 + 12 + … + 341 (50 terms)
S50 = (50)(-2 + 341)/2
= 8475
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Exercise: Arithmetic Series (2)

Try this by yourself.
Find the sum of the first 1,000 natural numbers.

Find the sum 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + … + 1000

Note that a = 1, d = 1, n = 1000 and an =
1000
Formula

Therefore
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Problems
• Arithmetic sequence and series appear in many
problems and applications.
• Examples are
❑ Saving money
❑ Pile of logs
❑ Falling object
❑ Sales
❑ Paying Loans

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Saving Money
• Example: A student deposits $50 in a
non-interest-bearing account and plans to add
$7 a week. How much will she have in the
account one year after her first deposit?
• Arithmetic sequence 50, 57, 64, 71, …
Identify a = 50, d = 7
• The amount of money after one year is a52
an = a + (n – 1)d
a52 = 50 + (52 – 1)(7)
= 407
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Pile of Logs
• Example: Several logs are stored in a pile with
20 logs on the bottom layer, 19 on the second
layer, 18 on the third layer and so on. If the top
layer has one log, how many logs are in the pile?
• The number of logs are 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + … + 20
• First term a = 1, last term a20 = 20, n = 20
• Evaluate S20 = (20)(1 + 20)/2
= 210
• There are 210 logs in the pile.

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Sales
• Example: The year it incorporated, a company
had sales of $237,500. Its sales were expected to
increase by $150,000 annually for the next several
years. If the forecast was correct, what will sales
be in 10 years?
• Arithmetic sequence
a = 237,500, d = 150,000, a10 = ?
• Use formula an = a + (n – 1)d
a10 = 237500 + (10 –
1)(150000)
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Paying Loan (1)

• Example: A factory owner repays his loan
of $2,088,000 by $20,000 in the first monthly
installment and then increases the payment by
$1,000 in every installment. In how many
installments he will clear his loan?
• Find sum of payments after n installment
a = 20,000
d = 1000
an = a + (n – 1)d
Sn = 2,088,000
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Paying Loan (2)

• Formula

• Substitute values

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Paying Loan (3)

• Hence we have,

• Factoring

• Therefore , n = 48, -87

• The owner will clear his loan in 48 monthly
installments
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Exercise: Making Money

Try this by yourself.
Romeo makes $12 for his first hour of work, $19
for his second hour of work, $26 for his third
hour of work and so on. How much money will
he have earned after 20 hours of work?
an = a + (n – 1)d
a20 = 12 + (20 – 1)(7)
= 145
S20 = (20)(12 + 145)/2 = 1570
dollars
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Geometric Sequence & Series

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Geometric Sequence (1)

• Consider the following sequence:
3, 6, 12, 24, 48, …

x2 x2 x2 x2

• Can you spot the pattern of numbers?

• We multiply each term by 2 obtain the next term.
• This is an example of geometric sequence.
Each term, except the first, is found by
multiplying the preceding term by a
constant.
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Geometric Sequence (2)

• A geometric sequence is a sequence of the form
a, ar, ar2, ar3, …, arn-1

st
1 term 2 nd
term nth term

• Each term is obtained by multiplying a common

ratio r.
• The nth term is given by
n-1
an = a r
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Geometric Sequence (3)

• Example: Write the first four terms and the
15th term of the geometric sequence whose first
term is 4 and whose common ratio is 2.
• We know that a = 4 and r = 2
Write sequence
4, 8, 16, 32, ….
• From an = arn-1
a15 = 4(2)15-1
= 65,536
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Geometric Sequence (4)

• Example: Find the eighth term of a geometric
sequence whose first three terms are 4, 2, and 1.
• The sequence is 4, 2, 1, …
We know that a = 4 and r = 1/2
• From an = arn-1
a8 = 4(1/2)8-1
= 4/27
= 22/27
= 2-5 = 1/32
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Geometric Sequence (5)

• Example: Find the eighth term of the geometric
sequence whose second and forth term are 0.2
and 5. Assume that all terms are positive.
• We write a2 = ar = 0.2 (1)
a4 = ar3 = 5 (2)
• Take (2)/(1) ⇒ r2 = 5/0.2 = 25
r = 5
• Substitute r = 5 into (1) to obtain a = 1/25
• Find a8: a8 = ar7 = (1/25)(5)7 = 3125
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Common Ratio (1)

• Common ratio r is a constant multiplying to any
term to obtain the next term.
• Consider the following geometric sequences:
3, 9, 27, 81, … r = 3
16, 8, 4, 2, 1, … r = 1/2
5, -5, 5, -5, 5, … r = -1
• We can find common ratio r by taking any term
divided by the term before.
• In a geometric sequence, r must be constant.
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Common Ratio (2)

• We can use common ratio to test whether or
not a sequence is geometric.
• Are these geometric sequences?
1, 5, 25, 125, …
Yes with r = 5
4, 8, 12, 16, …
No, this is not geometric
sequence
3, 1, 1/3, 1/9, …
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Yes with r = 1/3
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Alternating Geometric Series

• If common ratio r is positive, all terms in
geometric sequence have the same sign.
For example, a = 5 and r = 2
Sequence is 5, 10, 20, 40, …. (all
positive)
• If common ratio r is negative, terms in
geometric sequence have alternating sign.
For example, a = 4 and r = -2
Sequence is 4, -8, 16, -32, …
⇒ Alternating sequence
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Exercise: Geometric Sequence (1)

Try this by yourself.
Write the first five terms and the 10th term of
the geometric sequence whose first term is 2
and whose common ratio is 3.
We know that a = 2 and r = 3
The sequence is
2, 6, 18, 54, 162, ….
From an = arn-1
a10 = 2(3)10-1 = 39366
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Exercise: Geometric Sequence (2)

Try this by yourself.
Find the 9th term of a geometric sequence
whose first three terms are 3, -3/2 and 3/4.
We know that a = 3
Find r by taking ratio

Hence, r = -1/2
Formulaan = arn-1
a9 = 3(-1/2)9-1 = 3/256
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Exercise: Geometric Sequence (3)

Try this by yourself.
Find the fifth term of a geometric sequence whose
second term is 6 and whose third term is -18.
Second term: ar = 6 (1)
Third term: ar2 = -18 (2)
Take (2)/(1) r = -3
Substitute r = -3 into (1), we get a = -2
Find a5 a5 = ar4
= (-2)(-3)4 = -162
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Geometric Means (1)

• Numbers inserted between a first and last term
to form a segment of a geometric sequence are
called geometric means.
• For example, we want to insert two geometric
means between 4 and 256.
4, __, __, 256
r r r

• Hence, 4r3 = 256

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Geometric Means (2)

• From equation 4r3 = 256
• We have r3 = 64
r = 4
• Sequence 4, __, __, 256
r r r

• Therefore, we obtain 4, 16, 64, 256

• The two geometric means between 4 and 256 are
16 and 64.
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Exercise: Geometric Means

Try this by yourself.
Insert the two geometric means between -3
and 192
Write -3, __, __, 192
r r r
Therefore, -3r3 = 192
r3 = -64
r = -4
Two geometric means are 12 and - 48
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Arithmetic and Geometric (1)

• A sequence starts with a first term a.
• Create an arithmetic sequence by adding
common difference d and geometric sequence
by multiplying common ratio r.
• For example, let a = 4
If d = 3, we have arithmetic sequence
4, 7, 10, 13, …
If r = 3, we have geometric sequence
4, 12, 36, 108, …
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Exercise: Arithmetic and Geometric

• Try this by yourself.
Identify whether the following sequences
are arithmetic, geometric or neither.
a) 2, 10, 50, 250, … Geometric, r = 5
b) -6, 0, 6, 12, … Arithmetic, d = 6
c) 16, 4, 1, 1/4, … Geometric, r = 1/4
d) 1, -3, 5, -7, … Neither
e) 6, 2, -2, -6, … Arithmetic, d = - 4

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Geometric Series (1)

• Consider a geometric sequence
4, 8, 16, 32, …
• If we replace comma between terms by a + sign,
we get a geometric series
4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + …
• In general, the geometric series takes the form
a, ar, ar2, ar3, … , arn-1, …
• The sum of the first nth term of a geometric series
a + ar + ar2 + ar3 + … + arn-1
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Geometric Series (2)

• Let Sn denote the sum of the first n terms.
• For example, consider geometric series
2 + 8 + 32 + 96 + ….
We find S2 = 2 + 8 = 10
S3 = 2 + 8 + 32 = 42
S4 = 2 + 8 + 32 + 96 = 138
• How about the sum of the first 15 terms?
Use formula

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Geometric Series Formula (1)

• To find the sum of the first n terms in a geometric
series we use formula

or

Sn is the sum of the first n terms

a is the first term in the series
r is common ratio

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Geometric Series Formula (3)

• Example: Find the sum of the first 6 terms of
the geometric series 8 + 4 + 2 + …
• We know a = 8, r = 1/2 and want to find S6
• Use formula

• Hence,

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Exercise: Geometric Series (1)

Try this by yourself.
Find the sum of the first eight terms of the
geometric series 1/3, 1, 3, …
a = 1/3 and r = 3, find S8
Formula

Therefore,

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Exercise: Geometric Series (2)

Try this by yourself.
The sum of the first n terms in a geometric
series is 381. If the first term is 3, and common
ratio is 2, find n.
We know that Sn = 381, a = 3, r = 2. Find
n

⇒ n = 7
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Infinite Geometric Series (1)

• Infinite geometric series
a + ar + ar2 + …
• For example, a = 1 and r = 2, we have
1 + 2 + 4 +…
The result of the sum is infinity.
• The infinite sum, denoted by S, is given by

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Infinite Geometric Series (4)

• Consider formula

• For infinite series, rn ≈ 0, hence we have

• We use above formula for the sum of infinite

geometric series.
It is valid only when – 1 < r < 1
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Infinite Geometric Series (5)

• Example: Find the sum of infinite geometric
series 1 + 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + …
• Note that a = 1 and r = 1/2 (-1 < r < 1/2)
• Find S

• Therefore, 1 + 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + …. = 2

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Exercise: Infinite Geometric Series

Try this by yourself.
Consider an infinite geometric sequence
6, – 2, 2/3, – 2/9, 2/27 - ….
Find the sum of all terms in this sequence.
Note that a = 6 and r = -1/3
Find the sum S

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Population Problem (1)

• A town with population
3,500 people has growth
rate of 6% per year for
the next 20 years.

• What is the predicted

population 20 years
from now?

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Population Problem (2)

• We have a geometric sequence with
a = 3500 and r = 1.06
Now population 3500
After year 1 population 3500(1.06)
After year 2 population 3500(1.06)2
After year 3 population 3500(1.06)3
After year 20 population
3000(1.06)20
• Hence, after 20 years, population is
20
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Bouncing Ball (1)

• A ball is thrown up and its maximum height is 12
foot roof. It falls to ground and bounces two
thirds as high on each successive bounce.

• Find the total vertical distance that the ball will

travel, including all the bounces

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Bouncing Ball (2)

• Analyze the problem

12

12(2/3)
12(2/3)2

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Bouncing Ball (3)

• The total vertical distance is

• Factor 2 in the front accounts for equal upward

and downward distance.
• In square brackets, a = 12 and r = 2/3

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Exercise: Oil Reserves (1)

Try this by yourself.
At the end of the year 2000, world oil reserves
were about 1000 billion barrels. During 2000,
about 27 billion barrels of oil were consumed.
Over the past decade, oil consumption has been
increasing at about 1% a year. Assuming oil
consumption increases at this rate in the future,
how long will reserves last?

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Exercise: Oil Reserves (2)

The amount of oil used (billion) each year forms
sequence
27, 27(1.01), 27(1.01)2 , …. ,
27(1.01)n-1
Find n when total used Sn = 1000

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