Additional exercise

1.1 Number patterns and sigma

notation
1 For each of the following sequences,

i write down the next three terms in each sequence

ii find an expression for the nth term

iii state whether the sequence is arithmetic, geometric, or neither.

a 6, 13, 20, 27, ... b 400, 200, 100, 50, ...

1 3 5 7
c , , , ,... d 3x , 6 x 2 , 9 x 3 ,12 x 4 ,...
5 10 15 20

e 15, 11, 7, 3, ... f 4, -12, 36, -108, ...

2 Write the first six terms of each recursive sequence.

a =
un un −1 + 4 , u1 = −7 b=un 3 ( un −1 − 1) , u1 = 5

4
un = ( un −1 ) , u1 = −2
2
c un = , u1 = 27 d
un −1 + 1

3 Find a recursive formula for the general term of each sequence.

a 4, 16, 256, 65536, ... b 5, 7, 11, 19, ...

1 2 4 8
c , , , ,... d x, 2 x + 1, 4 x + 3, 8 x + 7,...
3 3 3 3

4 For each of the following series in sigma notation, find the terms and calculate the sum.
5 6 6
a ∑2
n =1
n −1
b ∑ (3k + 8)
k =0
c ∑ (a
a =2
2
− 3a )
4 4
2x 3

∑n ∑ x +1 ∑ ( −4)
n
d 3
e f
n =1 x =1 n= 0

5 Write each of the following series in sigma notation.

a 4 + 7 + 10 + 13 + 16 + 19 b 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16

1 1 2 5
c + + + +1 d 3x + 5x + 7 x + 9 x + 11x + 13x + 15x
3 2 3 6

e −5 + 8 − 11 + 14 − 17 + 20 − 23 f 3 + 9 + 27 + 81 + ...

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 Additional exercise

Answers

1 a i 34, 41, 48

ii u1 = 6 , and d = 13 − 6 = 7 , so un = 6 + 7 ( n − 1) = 7n − 1

iii The sequence is arithmetic, because there is a common difference between each
of the terms.

b i 25, 12.5, 6.25

200
ii u1 = 400 , and
= r = 2 , so un = 400 2n −1
400
( )
iii The sequence is geometric, because there is a common ratio between terms.

9 11 13
c i , ,
25 30 35

ii We can look at the numerator and denominator as two different sequences.

The numerator has a first term of 1 and a common difference of 2.

The denominator has a first term of 5 and a common difference of 5.

1 + 2 ( n − 1) 2n − 1
So un
= =
5 + 5 ( n − 1) 5n

iii The sequence is neither arithmetic nor geometric.

d i 15x 5 ,18 x 6 ,21x 7

ii We can look at the coefficient and the power as two different sequences.

The coefficient is arithmetic with a first term of 3 and a common difference of 3.

The power is geometric with a first term of x and a common ratio of x.

( )( (
So un =3 + 3 ( n − 1) x x n −1 )) =3nx n

iii The sequence is neither arithmetic nor geometric.

e i -1, -5, -9

ii u1 = 15 , and d = −4 , so un= 15 + ( −4 ) ( n − 1)= 19 − 4n

11 − 15 =

iii The sequence is arithmetic, because there is a common difference between each
of the terms.

f i 324, -972, 2916

−12
= −3 , so un = 4 ⋅ ( −3)
n −1
ii u1 = 4 , and r =
4

iii The sequence is geometric, because there is a common ratio between terms.

2 a The first term is -7, and each subsequent term is 4 more than the previous term, so
the first six terms are 7, 11, 15, 19, 23, 30.

b The first term is 5. To find each subsequent term, we subtract 1 from the previous
term and multiply the result by 3, so the first six terms are 5, 12, 33, 96, 285, 852.

c The first term is 27, and to find each subsequent term, we divide 4 by one more than
1 7 8 36 68
the previous term. The first six terms are 27, , , , , .
7 2 9 17 53

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 Additional exercise

d The first term is -2, and to find each subsequent term, we square the previous term.
The first six terms are -2, 4, 16, 256, 65536, 4294967296.

un = ( un −1 ) , u1 = 4
2
3 a b =
un un −1 + 2n −1 , u1 = 5

1
c un = 2un −1 , u1 = d un 2 ( un −1 ) + 1 , u1 = x
=
3

4 a 21−1 + 22 −1 + 23 −1 + 24 −1 + 25 −1 = 20 + 21 + 22 + 23 + 24

= 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 =31

b (3 (0) + 8) + (3 (1) + 8) + (3 (2) + 8) + (3 (3) + 8) + (3 ( 4) + 8) + (3 (5) + 8) + (3 (6 ) + 8)

= 8 + 11 + 14 + 17 + 20 + 23 + 26 =
119

c (2 2
) ( ) (
− 3 (2 ) + 32 − 3 (3) + 42 − 3 ( 4 ) + 52 − 3 (5) + 62 − 3 ( 6 )) ( ) ( )
= −2 + 0 + 4 + 10 + 18 =30

d 13 + 23 + 33 + 43 = 1 + 8 + 27 + 64 =
100

2 (1) 2 (2 ) 2 (3) 2 ( 4) 4 3 8 163

e + + + =1 + + + =
1+1 2 +1 3+1 4 +1 3 2 5 30

( −4) + ( −4 ) + ( −4 ) + ( −4 ) = 1 + ( −4 ) + 16 + ( −64 ) =−51

0 1 2 3
f

5 Note: In this question, other answers are possible, depending on the letter used for the index,
and the values selected for the upper and lower limits.
6 5 5
k +1
a ∑ 3n + 1
n =1
b ∑2
x =1
x −1
c ∑
k =1 6

7 7 ∞

∑ x (2n + 1) ∑ ( −1) (3n + 2) ∑3

n
d e f k

n =1 n =1 k =1

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