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Arithmetic Progression - Wikipedia PDF

An arithmetic progression is a sequence of numbers where the difference between consecutive terms is constant. The nth term of an arithmetic progression is given by an = a1 + (n-1)d, where a1 is the first term and d is the common difference. The sum of the first n terms of an arithmetic progression can be calculated as S = n/2 * (a1 + an), providing a formula to quickly calculate the sum of an arithmetic series. Various other properties and formulas are also derived for arithmetic progressions, including the standard deviation, products of terms, and intersections between progressions.

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138 views17 pages

Arithmetic Progression - Wikipedia PDF

An arithmetic progression is a sequence of numbers where the difference between consecutive terms is constant. The nth term of an arithmetic progression is given by an = a1 + (n-1)d, where a1 is the first term and d is the common difference. The sum of the first n terms of an arithmetic progression can be calculated as S = n/2 * (a1 + an), providing a formula to quickly calculate the sum of an arithmetic series. Various other properties and formulas are also derived for arithmetic progressions, including the standard deviation, products of terms, and intersections between progressions.

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Maureen Flores
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Arithmetic

progression

Visual proof of the derivation of arithmetic


progression formulas – the faded blocks are a rotated
copy of the arithmetic progression
In mathematics, an arithmetic progression
(AP) or arithmetic sequence is a sequence
of numbers such that the difference
between the consecutive terms is
constant. Difference here means the
second minus the first. For instance, the
sequence 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, . . . is an
arithmetic progression with common
difference of 2.

If the initial term of an arithmetic


progression is and the common
difference of successive members is d,
then the nth term of the sequence ( ) is
given by:
,

and in general

A finite portion of an arithmetic


progression is called a finite arithmetic
progression and sometimes just called an
arithmetic progression. The sum of a finite
arithmetic progression is called an
arithmetic series.

The behavior of the arithmetic progression


depends on the common difference d. If
the common difference is:
positive, then the members (terms) will
grow towards positive infinity;
negative, then the members (terms) will
grow towards negative infinity.

Sum

2 +5 +8 +11+14=40
14+11+8 +5 +2 =40

16+16+16+16+16=80

Computation of the sum 2 + 5 + 8 + 11 + 14. When the


sequence is reversed and added to itself term by term,
the resulting sequence has a single repeated value in
it, equal to the sum of the first and last numbers (2 +
14 = 16). Thus 16 × 5 = 80 is twice the sum.
The sum of the members of a finite
arithmetic progression is called an
arithmetic series. For example, consider
the sum:

This sum can be found quickly by taking


the number n of terms being added (here
5), multiplying by the sum of the first and
last number in the progression (here 2 +
14 = 16), and dividing by 2:
In the case above, this gives the equation:

This formula works for any real numbers


and . For example:

Derivation

Animated proof for the formula giving the sum of the


first integers 1+2+...+n.
To derive the above formula, begin by
expressing the arithmetic series in two
different ways:

Adding both sides of the two equations, all


terms involving d cancel:

Dividing both sides by 2 produces a


common form of the equation:
An alternate form results from re-inserting
the substitution: :

Furthermore, the mean value of the series


can be calculated via: :

In 499 AD Aryabhata, a prominent


mathematician-astronomer from the
classical age of Indian mathematics and
Indian astronomy, gave this method in the
Aryabhatiya (section 2.18).
According to an anecdote, young Carl
Friedrich Gauss reinvented this method to
compute the sum 1+2+3+...+99+100 for a
punishment in primary school.

Product
The product of the members of a finite
arithmetic progression with an initial
element a1, common differences d, and n
elements in total is determined in a closed
expression
where denotes the rising factorial and
denotes the Gamma function. (Note
however that the formula is not valid when
is a negative integer or zero.)

This is a generalization from the fact that


the product of the progression
is given by the factorial
and that the product

for positive integers and is given by


Taking the example from above, the
product of the terms of the arithmetic
progression given by an = 3 + (n-1)(5) up to
the 50th term is

Standard deviation
The standard deviation of any arithmetic
progression can be calculated as

where is the number of terms in the


progression and is the common
difference between terms.

Intersections
The intersection of any two doubly infinite
arithmetic progressions is either empty or
another arithmetic progression, which can
be found using the Chinese remainder
theorem. If each pair of progressions in a
family of doubly infinite arithmetic
progressions have a non-empty
intersection, then there exists a number
common to all of them; that is, infinite
arithmetic progressions form a Helly
family.[1] However, the intersection of
infinitely many infinite arithmetic
progressions might be a single number
rather than itself being an infinite
progression.

Summary of formulae
If

is the first term of an arithmetic


progression.
is the nth term of an arithmetic
progression.
is the difference between terms of the
arithmetic progression.
is the number of terms in the
arithmetic progression.
is the sum of n terms in the
arithmetic progression.
is the mean value of arithmetic series.

then

1.
2.
3.

4.

5. =

6.

7. .

See also
Primes in arithmetic progression
Linear difference equation
Arithmetico-geometric sequence
Generalized arithmetic progression, a
set of integers constructed as an
arithmetic progression is, but allowing
several possible differences
Harmonic progression
Heronian triangles with sides in
arithmetic progression
Problems involving arithmetic
progressions
Utonality

References
1. Duchet, Pierre (1995), "Hypergraphs",
in Graham, R. L.; Grötschel, M.; Lovász,
L. (eds.), Handbook of combinatorics,
Vol. 1, 2, Amsterdam: Elsevier,
pp. 381–432, MR 1373663 . See in
particular Section 2.5, "Helly Property",
pp. 393–394 .
Sigler, Laurence E. (trans.) (2002).
Fibonacci's Liber Abaci. Springer-Verlag.
pp. 259–260. ISBN 0-387-95419-8.

External links
Hazewinkel, Michiel, ed. (2001) [1994],
"Arithmetic series" , Encyclopedia of
Mathematics, Springer
Science+Business Media B.V. / Kluwer
Academic Publishers, ISBN 978-1-
55608-010-4
Weisstein, Eric W. "Arithmetic
progression" . MathWorld.
Weisstein, Eric W. "Arithmetic series" .
MathWorld.

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