Mathematics

7. ARITHMETIC PROGRESSION
n Sequence, series & progression
l Sequence : A sequence is an ordered arrangement of numbers according to a given rule.
Terms of a sequence : The terms of a sequence in successive order is denoted by 'T' n or 'a'n. The nth term 'T'n

l
l
is called the general term of the sequence.

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l Series: The sum of terms of a sequence is called the series of the corresponding sequence. T1 + T2 + T3 +....

n
is an infinite series, where as T1 + T2 + T3 + ... + Tn–1 + Tn is a finite series of n terms.
Usually the series of finite number of n terms is denoted by Sn.

n
Sn = T1 + T2 + T3 + ... + Tn – 2 + Tn – 1 + Tn

a
Sn–1 = T1 + T2 + T3 + ... + Tn – 2 + Tn – 1

h
Sn – Sn–1 = Tn OR Tn = Sn – Sn–1

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Progression : The sequence that follows a certain pattern is called a progression. Thus, the sequence 2, 3, 5,

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7, 11,.... is not a progression.

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n Arithmetic progressions
An arithmetic progression is that list of numbers in which the first term is given and each term, other than the first term

i m
is obtained by adding a fixed number 'd' to the preceding term.
The fixed term 'd' is known as the common difference of the arithmetic progression. It's value can be positive,

T
negative or zero. The first term is denoted by 'a' or 'a1' and the last term by 'l'.

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l Symbolical form : Let us denote the first term of an AP by a 1, second term by a2, .... nth term by an and the

d
common difference by d. Then the AP becomes a1, a2, a3,....,an. So, a2 – a1 = a3 – a2 = ... = an – an–1 = d.
l General form : In general form, an arithmetic progression with first term 'a' and common difference 'd' can be

u
represented as follows :

t
a, a + d, a + 2d, a + 3d, a + 4d,....

S
l Finite AP : An AP in which there are only a finite number of terms is called a finite AP . It may be noted that
each such AP has a last term.

@
l General term of an arithmetic progression
The nth term of an arithmetic progression is
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an = a + (n – 1)d
Where, a is the first term of arithmetic progression,
and d is the common difference of arithmetic progression.

l rth term of a finite arithmetic progression from the end

Let there be an arithmetic progression with first term a and common difference d. If there are n terms in the
arithmetic progression, then

r th term from the end = a + (n – r)d

Also, if l is the last term of the arithmetic progression then rth term from the end is the rth term of an arithmetic
progression whose first term is l and common difference is – d.
rth term from the end = l + (r – 1) (– d)
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Class X
n
} In the formula Sn = [2a + (n – 1) d], there are four quantities viz. S n, a, n and d. If any three of these are
2
known, the fourth can be determined. Sometimes, two of these quantities are given. In such a case, remaining

two quantities are provided by some other relation.

} If the sum Sn of n terms of a sequence is given, then n th term an of the sequence can be determined by using

l
the following formula : a n = S n – S n–1

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i.e., the nth term of an AP is the difference of the sum to first n terms and the sum to first (n –1) terms of it.

n
n Selection of terms in an AP

a n
Number Terms Common

h
of terms difference

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3 a – d, a, a + d d

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4 a – 3d, a – d, a + d, a + 3d 2d
5 a – 2d, a – d, a, a + d, a + 2d d

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6 a – 5d, a – 3d, a – d, a + d, a + 3d, a + 5d 2d

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It should be noted that in case of an odd number of terms, the middle term is a and the common difference is d

T
while in case of an even number of terms the middle terms are a – d, a + d and the common difference is 2d.

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} If the sum of terms is not given, then select terms as a, a + d, a + 2d,....

d
} If three numbers a, b, c in order are in AP. Then

b – a = Common difference = c – b

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Þ b–a=c–b

S
Þ 2b = a + c

Thus, a,b,c are in AP if and only if 2b = a + c

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} If a,b,c are in AP, then b is known as the arithmetic mean (AM) between a and c. Node5\e\Data\CBSE-2016\10th\Advance\CCP\Maths-1\7. Arithmatic progression.p65

a+b
} If a, x, b are in AP Then, 2x = a + b Þ x =
2
a+b
Thus, AM between a and b is .
2
l Points to remember

} If a constant is added to or subtracted from each term of an A.P., then the resulting sequence is also an A.P.
with the same common difference.

} If each term of a given A.P. is multiplied or divided by a non-zero constant K, then the resulting sequence is
also an A.P. with common difference Kd or d/K, where d is the common difference of the given A.P.

} In a finite A.P., the sum of the terms equidistant from the beginning and end is always same and is equal to
the sum of first and last term.

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} A sequence is an A.P. iff it's nth term is a linear expression in n i.e., a n = An + B, where A, B are constants.
In such a case, the coefficient of n is the common difference of the A.P.

} A sequence is an A.P. iff the sum of it's first n terms is of the form An2 + Bn, where A,B are constants
independent of n. In such a case, the common difference is 2 A.

} If the terms of an A.P. are choosen at regular intervals, then they form an A.P.

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} The sum of Ist n odd natural no.s = n2

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} The sum of Ist n even natural no.s = n(n+1)

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} The sum of first n natural numbers i.e. 1 + 2 + 3 +....+ n is usually written as Sn.

n
n(n +1)

a
ån =
2

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} The sum of squares of first n natural numbers i.e. 12 + 22 + 32 + ... + n2 is usually written as Sn2.

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n(n +1) (2n +1)
ån 2
=

_
6

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} The sum of cubes of first n natural numbers i.e. 13 + 23 + 33 + ... + n3 is usually written as Sn3.

m
2
æ n(n +1) ö
ån

i
3 2
=ç ÷ = (Sn)
è 2 ø

T
} A sequence of non-zero numbers a1, a2, a3,...,an is said to be a geometric sequence or G.P.

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a2 a 3 a 4 a n+1
iff a = a = a = ....

d
i.e. iff = a constant for all n.
1 2 3 an

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e.g., 3, 9, 27, 81,....

S t
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Class X

ARITHMETIC PROGRESSION EXERCISE

1. If the sides of a right triangle are in A.P., then the 10. If a, b, c are in A.P. then :-
ratio of its smallest side to the greatest side is :- (1) the equation (b – c) x2 + (c – a) x + (a – b) = 0,
(1) 3 : 4 (2) 3 : 5 (3) 4 : 5 (4) None b ¹ c has equal roots
2. Given that n A.M.'s are inserted between two sets (2) a2, b2, c2 are in A.P.

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of numbers a, 2b and 2a, b, where a, b Î R. If the
(3) la + µ, lb + µ, lc + µ are in A.P., l, µ Î R

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mth means in the two cases are same then ratio a :
(4) None of these
b is equal to :-

n
11. The sums of first n terms of two A.P.'s are in the
(1) n : (n – m + 1) (2) (n – m + 1) : m
ratio (3n + 8) : (7n + 15). The ratio of their 12th
(3) (n – m + 1) : n (4) m : (n – m + 1)

n
terms is :-
3. The next term of the sequence 9, 16, 27, 42, .........

a
is :- 4 7 3
(1) 53 (2) 61 (3) 57 (4) None (1) (2) (3) (4) None

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9 16 7
4. Sum of first n terms of an A.P. is an(n – 1). The sum
12. The sum of n terms of a series is An 2 + Bn, then

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of squares of these terms is :-
the nth term is :-

_
a2 2a 2 (1) A(2n – 1) – B (2) A(1 – 2n) + B
(1) n(n – 1) (2n – 1) (2) n(n + 1) (2n + 1)

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6 3 (3) A(1 – 2n) – B (4) A(2n – 1) + B
13. In an A.P. sum of first p terms is equal to the sum of
2a 2
(3) a2n2(n – 1)2 (4) n(n – 1) (2n – 1)

im
3 first q terms. Sum of it's first p + q terms is :-
(1) – (p + q) (2) p + q (3) 0 (4) None
5. The nth term of the series

T
1 1 14. 2, 6 , 4.5 are the following terms of an A.P..
1+ + + ... is :-
1+3 1+3+5

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(1) 101st, 207th, 309th (2) 101st, 201st, 301st
2 1 (3) 2nd, 6th, 9th (4) None of these

d
(1) (2) 2 (3) n2 (4) None
n(n + 1) n
15. The sum of 40 A.M's between two numbers is 120.

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6. If a, b, c, d, e, f are A.M.s between 2 and 12, then The sum of 50 A.M's between them is equal to :-

t
a + b + c + d + e + f is equal to :- (1) 130 (2) 160

S
(1) 14 (2) 84 (3) 42 (4) None
(3) 150 (4) None
7. The sum of all numbers from 1 to 1000 which are
16. The sum of first n terms of an A.P. whose last term
neither divisible by 2 nor by 5 is :-

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is l and common difference is d is :-
(1) 200000 (2) 500500
n n
(3) 250000 (4) None of these (1) [2l + (n – 1) d] (2) [2l – (n – 1) d]
2 2
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8. The n term of the sequence 2, 5, 11, 20, 32,

th

............. is :- n n
(3) [l + (n – 1) d] (4) [l – (n – 1) d]
3n2 + 3n - 4 3n2 - 3n + 4 2 2
(1) (2)
2 2 17. In an A.P., sum of first n terms is 2n2 + 3n, it's
3n2 + 3n + 4 common difference is :-
(3) (4) None of these
2 (1) 4 (2) 3
9. For the A.P. a + (a + d) + (a + 2d) + .... + l of n (3) 2 (4) 6
terms :- 18. The number of terms common to the arithmetic
n n progressions 3, 7, 11, ......., 407 and 2, 9, 16,.....,
(1) Sn = (a + l) (2) Sn = {2a + (n–1) d}
2 2 709 is :-
n (l - a + d)(a + l ) (1) 51 (2) 14
(3) Sn = {2l – (n–1) d} (4) Sn =
2 2d (3) 21 (4) 28

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a n + bn 29. The sum of 3rd and 15th elements of an arithmetic
19. If be the arithmetic mean between a
a n -1 + b n -1 progression is equal to the sum of 6th, 11th and
and b, then the value of n is :- 13th elements of the same progression. Then which
1 element of the series should necessarily be equal to
(1) 1 (2) 0 (3) – (4) –1
2 zero ?
20. If the sum of first n terms of an A.P. is Pn + Qn2 (1) 1st (2) 9th

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where P and Q are constants, then common
(3) 12th (4) None of these

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difference of A.P. will be :-
30. A person pays Rs. 975 in monthly instalments, each
(1) P + Q (2) P – Q (3) 2P (4) 2Q
monthly instalment being less than the former by

n
21. If x, y, z are in A.P., then (x + y – z) (y + z – x) is Rs. 5. The amount of the first instalment is Rs. 100.

n
equal to :- In what tune, will the entire amount be paid ?
(1) 8xy + 3y2 – 4x2 (2) 8xy – 3y2 – 4x2

a
(1) 12 months (2) 26 months
(3) 8xy – 3x2 + 4y2 (4) 8xy – 3y2 + 4x2 (3) 15 months (4) 18 months

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22. If an A.P., Sm : Sn :: m2 : n2. The ratio of the pth 31. Let Sn denote the sum of the first ‘n’ terms of an
term to qth term is :-

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A.P. S2n= 3Sn. Then, the ratio S3n/Sn is equal to
p-1 p 2p - 1
(1) (2) (3) (4) None (1) 4 (2) 6

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q -1 q 2q - 1
(3) 8 (4) 10
23. If x, y, z are in A.P., then (x + 2y – z) (x + z – y)

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32. If the nth term of an A.P. is 4n + 1, then the
(z + 2y – x) is equal to :-
common difference is
(1) xyz (2) 2xyz (3) 4xyz (4) None

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(1) 3 (2) 4 (3) 5 (4) 6

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a n + 1 + b n +1
24. The value of n, for which is the A.M. 33. 30 trees are planted in a straight line at intervals of
a n + bn

T
between a and b is :- 5 m. To water them, the gardener needs to bring
water for each tree, separately from a well, which

y
1
(1) 0 (2) 1 (3) – (4) –1 is 10 m from the first tree in line with the trees. How
2

d
S kn far will he have to walk in order to water all the trees
25. For an A.P., is independent of n. The value of beginnings with the first tree ? Assume that he starts
Sn

u
d from the well.

t
for this A.P. is :-
a (1) 4785 m (2) 4795 m

S
(1) 1 (2) 2 (3) 3 (4) 4
(3) 4800 m (4) None of these
26. If S denotes the sum of first n terms of the A.P. a +
(a + d) + (a + 2d) + ....... whose nth term is l, then 3+5+7+.........+ n terms

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34. If = 7, then the value of
the common 'd' of the A.P. is :- 5+ 8+11+......+10 terms
l-a l2 - a 2 n is
(1) (2)
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n 2S - a + l (1) 35 (2) 36 (3) 37 (4) 40

l2 - a2
(3) (4) None of these 35. If the sum of first n natural numbers is one-fifth of
2S - (a + l)
the sum of their squares, then n is
27. For the A.P. x + (x + 1) + (x + 2) + ...... + y
(1) 5 (2) 6 (3) 7 (4) 8
(1) C. D. is 1
36. The sum of 12 terms of an A.P. whose first term is
(2) Numer of terms is y – x + 1
4, is 256. What is the last terms ?
y - x +1
(3) Sum of the series is (x + y) (1) 35 (2) 36
2
(4) None of these (3) 37 (4) 116/3
28. If the angles A < B < C of a triangle are in A.P. 37. Find the sum of all natural numbers not exceeding
then :- 1000, which are divisible by 4 but not by 8.
(1) c2 = a2 + b2 – ab (2) b2 = a2 + c2 – ac (1) 62500 (2) 62800
(3) c2 = a2 + b2 (4) None of these (3) 64000 (4) 65600

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Class X
38. I open a book store with a number of books. On 42. A man arranged to pay off a debt of Rs.3600 in
the first day, I sell 1 book; on the second day, I sell 40 annual instalments which form an Arithmetical
2 books; on the third day, I sell 3 books and so on. Progression. When 30 of the instalments are paid,
At the end of the month (30 days). I realise that I he dies leaving one third of the debt unpaid. Find
sold the same number of books with which I started. the value of the 1 instalment is
Find the number of books in the beginning. (1) Rs.55 (2) Rs.53

l
(1) 365 (2) 420 (3) 465 (4) 501 (3) Rs.51 (4) Rs.49

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39. There are two arithmetic progressions, A1 and A2, 43. Let a1, a2,.......a19 be the first 19 terms of an
whose first terms are 3 and 5 respectively and arithmetic pro gres sion whe re

n
whose common differences are 6 and 8 respectively. a1 +a 8 +a 12 +a 19 =224. The sum a 1 + a 2 + a 3

n
How many terms of the series are common in the +...+a19 is equal to
first n terms of A1 and A2, if the sum of the nth terms

a
(1) 896 (2) 969
of A1 and A2 is equal to 6,000? (3) 1064 (4) 1120

h
(1) 103 (2) 107 (3) 109 (4) 113 44. How many multiples of 7 are there between 33 and
40. A club consists of members whose ages are in AP,

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329 ?
the common difference being 3 months. If the (1) 43 (2) 35

_
youngest member of the club is just 7 years old and
(3) 329 (4) 77

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the sum of the ages of all the members is 250 year,
then the number of members in the club are 4 9 16 25
45. The infinite sum 1 + + + + + .... equals
(1) 15 (2) 20 (3) 25 (4) 30 7 72 73 74

i m
41. How many terms are there is an AP whose first and
27 21
fifth terms are –14 and 2 respectively and the sum (1) (2)

T
14 13
of terms is 40?

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(1) 15 (2) 10 49 256
(3) (4)
(3) 5 (4) 20 27 147

ud
S t
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ANSWER KEY
Que. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ans. 3 4 2 4 2 3 1 2 1,2,3,4 1,3 2 4 3 4 3 2 1 2 1 4
Que. 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
Ans. 2 3 3 1 3 3 1,2,3 3 3 3 2 2 2 1 3 3 1 3 2 3
Que. 41 42 43 44 45
Ans. 2 3 3 1 3
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