NANYANG JUNIOR COLLEGE

DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS
Year 1 (2022) H2 Mathematics

Name:___________________________________ CT: 22___

Tutorial 6B – Arithmetic and Geometric Progressions

1 By writing the sigma notation in series, determine if the following sums are arithmetic or
geometric series. Hence, express the following sums in terms of n:
 
1  1 
n 2n4 k k

(a)  1  2r  (b)  x r (c)        

r 1 r 5  2   2  
k 0 

x5 (1  x 2 n ) 8
[(a)  n
2
(b) (c) ]
1 x 3

n
n

 1  2r   (1)  (3)  (5)    (1  2n)

Note that   ar  b  is an AP sum. So you
r 1
r 1
(a) n
n may use the formula S n  (a  l )
 (1  1  2n)   n 2
2
2
2n4
x 5 (1  x 2 n )
(b)  x r  x 5  x 6  ...  x 2 n  4 
r 5 1 x
(c)
 
1  1 
k k

       
 2   2  
k 0 

1 1   1 1   1 1   1 1 
 1  1    ( )    2  ( ) 2    ( )3  ( )3    ( ) 4  (  ) 4   
2 2  2 2   2 2   2 2 
1 1
 2  2( 2 )  2( 4 )  
2 2
2 8
 
1 3 Note that the even numbered terms get
1 2
2 cancelled off, and the remaining odd
numbered terms form a GP with 1st
term=2 and common ratio = 0.25

2. (a) [[2017/NYJC/Prelim/II/2b] The sum of the first n terms of a positive arithmetic sequence
{un } is given by the formula S n  4n 2  2n. Three terms of this sequence, u2 , um and u32 ,
are consecutive terms in a geometric sequence. Find m.
2n 1
(b) The sum of the first n terms of a series is given by the expression 6  . By finding an
3n 1
expression for the nth term of the series, or otherwise, show that this is a geometric series
and state the values of the first term and the common ratio. Hence, find the sum to
infinity.
(c) Find the sum of the arithmetic progression
1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, …, 1000.
Every third term of the above progression is removed, i.e. 7, 16 etc. Find the sum of the
remaining terms.
 2
[(a)7 (b) 2, , 6 (a) 111445]
3

(a) Method 1
u1  S1  2  a  2
u2  S 2  S1  10  d  8
u32  a  (32  1)d  2  (32  1)8  250
u32 um
  constant
u m u2 u2 , um and u32 are consecutive terms of GP
 (um ) 2  (10)(250)  2500
um  50 (since it is a positive sequence)
50  2  (m  1)8
m7

Method 2
un  S n  S n 1  4n 2  2n   4(n  1) 2  2(n  1) 
 8n  6
u32 um

um u2
8(32)  6 8m  6

8m  6 8(2)  6
8m  6    250  (10)  2500
2

m  7 or m  5.5 (rejected as m is a positive integer)

2n1
Sn  6 
(b) 3n1
2n1  2n 
un  S n  S n1  6     n2 
6
3n1  3 
2n 2n 2
 
3n32 3n31
2n 2n
 9( n )  6( n )
3 3
2 n
 3( )
3
n 
 2   2n 
1
u
 n1   n    n1 
un  3   3 
 2n1   3n1  2
  n    n   (constant)
 3   2  3
2 a 2
 u1  2 , common ratio = , S   6
3 1  r 1  23

(c) 1, 4, 7,  , 1000 This is an AP with a  1, d  3 .

 un  1   n  1 3  1000
 n  334
334
S334  1  1000   167167
2

7, 16,  , 997 This is an AP with a  7, d  9, n  111

111
S111   7  997   55722
2
Remaining sum = 167167 - 55722 = 111445

3. (a) An arithmetic series has first term 1000 and common difference 1.4 . Find the sum of
the first 20 negative terms of the series.
1 1
(b) Find the sum to n terms of the geometric series 2    ... .
2 8
Hence or otherwise, find the least value of n for which the sum of the (n + 1)th term to the
(2n)th term is less than 0.008. [(a) -286 (b) 8
3 1     , n = 5]
1 n
4

(a) un  1000  (n  1)(1.4)  0

1000
n 1
1.4
n  715.29

First negative term is 1000  (716  1)(1.4)  1 .

20
Sum of first 20 negative terms  2(1)  (20  1)(1.4)   286 .
2

   8 1  
2 1   14 
n

3 
Sn  1 n
(b) 1  
1
4
4

Method 1:
un1  un 2    u2 n = S 2n  S n
S 2 n  S n  0.008
8
3   
8

1   14   1   14   0.008  0
2n

3
n

From GC,
n S 2n  S n - 0.008
4 0.002376 > 0

5 -0.005398 < 0.008

 least n = 5

Method 2:
n n 1 2 n 1
1 1 1
un1  un 2    u2 n = 2   2    2 
4 4 4
n
1 1
This is a GP, where a  2   , r  , the number of terms = n
4 4
 n
1
2   1   14  
n

 4   
 0.008  0
1 41

From GC,
2  14  1   14  
n n

n    0.008
1 41

4 0.002376 > 0
5 -0.005398 < 0
 least n = 5

4. [2019/I/8(b) and (c)]

(a) A geometric series has first term f and common ratio r, where f , r   and f  0 .
The sum of the first four terms of the series is 0. Find the common possible values
of f and r. Find also, in terms of f, the possible values of the sum of the first n terms
of the series.
(b) The first term of an arithmetic series is negative. The sum of the first four terms of the
series is 14 and the product of the first four terms of the series is 0. Find the 11th
term of the series.
[(a) r  1, f   \ {0} ; S n  0 or f (b) 63]
(a) Note that r  1 since if r  1, S 4  4 f  0
f (1  r 4 )
0
1 r
(1  r 4 )
Since f  0, 0
1 r
(1  r 2 )(1  r 2 )
 0
1 r
 (1  r 2 )(1  r )  0
 r  1
At the same time, f   \{0}
 f
f (1  r n ) f  2 (1  1) if n  even
Sn   (1  (1) )  
n

1 r 2  f (1  (1)) if n  odd
 2
0 if n  even

(b)  f if n  odd
 S 4  14
4
(2a  3d )  14
2
2a  3d  7
a (a  d )(a  2d )(a  3d )  0
since a  0, a   d or a  2d or a  3d
if a   d , 2d  3d  7  d  7, a  7
if a  2d , 4d  3d  7  d  7, a  14 (reject)
if a  3d , 6d  3d  7  d  7 / 3, a  7 (reject)
 d  7, a  7
u11  63
5. [2017/SRJC/II/8b] A semicircle with radius 12 cm is cut into 8 sectors whose areas follow a
geometric progression. The first sector, which is the largest, has an area of A cm2. The second
sector has an area of Ar cm2, the third sector has an area of Ar2 cm2, and so on, where r is a
positive constant. Given also that the total area of the odd-numbered sectors is 10π cm2 more
than that of the even-numbered sectors, find the values of A and r. [A = 61.8 , r  0.756 ]

Let a be the 1st term and r be the common ratio of the G.P.
A 1  r 8 
S8  A  Ar  Ar  ...  Ar 
2 7
 72    1
1 r

Sodd  Seven  10

[ A  Ar 2  Ar 4  Ar 6 ]  [ Ar  Ar 3  Ar 5  Ar 7 ]  10
A 1  (r 2 ) 4  Ar 1  (r 2 ) 4 
  10
1 r2 1 r2
A 1  r 8 
1  r   10 ----- (2)
1  r 1  r 
1  r 10
(2)  (1): 
1  r 72
72  72r  10  10r
82r  62
31
r  0.75610 or
41
Substituting into equation (1), A = 61.8 (to 3 s.f.)
6. [2012/II/4] On 1 January 2001 Mrs A put $100 into a bank account, and on the first day of
each subsequent month she put in $10 more than in the previous month. Thus on 1 February
she put $110 into the account and on 1 March she put $120 into the account, and so on. The
account pays no interest.
(i) On what date did the value of Mrs A's account first become greater than $5000?
On 1 January 2001 Mr B put $100 into a savings account, and on the first day of each
subsequent month he put another $100 into the account. The interest rate was 0.5% per
month, so that on the last day of each month the amount in the account on that day was
increased by 0.5%.
(ii) Use the formula for the sum of a geometric progression to find an expression for
the value of Mr B's account on the last day of the nth month (where January 2001 was
the 1st month, February 2001 was the 2nd month, and so on). Hence find in which
month the value of Mr B's account first became greater than $5000.
(iii) Mr B wanted the value of his account to be $5000 on 2 December 2003. What interest
rate per month, applied from January 2001, would achieve this?
[1 Dec 2002; Sept 2004; 1.8%]

(i)
a  100 d  10
S n  5000
n
2
 200   n  110   5000
n 190  10n   10000
10n2  190n  10000  0
n  42.5 or n  23.5
Least n =24
Hence, Mrs A’s account will first become greater than $5000 on 1st Dec 2002.

(ii)
mth Amount in account at end of month
1st 100(0.005)  100  1.005(100)
2nd (1.005(100)  100)1.005  (1.005) 2 (100)  1.005(100)
3rd [(1.005)2 (100)  1.005(100)  (100)]1.005  (1.005)3 (100)  (1.005)2 (100)  1.005(100)
 
nth 100 1.005   100 1.005 
n n 1
   100 1.005 
100(1.005) 1  1.005n 

1  1.005
100(1.005) 1.005n  1

0.005

 20100 1.005n  1 

20100 1.005n  1  5000 
20100 1.005 n
 1  5000  0
Using G.C.
 n 
20100 1.005n  1  5000 
44 -65.6 < 0
45 57.6 > 0
Least n  45
Thus the month is September 2004.

(iii)
Let x  1  r , where r is interest rate per month.
Note that last day of Nov 2003 corresponds to last day of 35th month.
100  x   100  x     100 x  100  5000
35 34

Total amt on last day of November 2003
This is a GP with first term =100, common ratio =x and number of terms =36
100  x36  1
 5000
x 1
x36  1  50  x  1
x36  50 x  49  0

Note: You need to zoom in to see the x-intercepts.

From G.C. x  1.0179576 (reject x=1)

Thus r  0.0179576  0.0180
Interest rate = 1.80%

7 [2014/II/3] In a training exercise, athletes run from a starting point O to and from a series of
points, A1, A2, A3, … , increasingly far away in a straight line. In the exercise, athletes starts
at O and run stage 1 from O to A1 and back to O, then stage 2 from O to A2 and back to O,
and so on.
(i)

In Version 1 of the exercise, the distances between adjacent points are all 4 m (see Fig.1).
(a) Find the distance run by an athlete who completes the first 10 stages of Version 1 of
the exercise.
(b) Write down an expression for the distance run by an athlete who completes n stages
of Version 1. Hence find the least number of stages that the athlete needs to complete
to run at least 5 km.
(ii)
 In Version 2 of the exercise, the distances between the points are such that OA1 = 4 m,
A1A2 = 4 m, =A2A3 = 8 m and AnAn+1 =2An-1An (see Fig. 2). Write down an expression for
the distance run by an athlete who completes n stages of Version 2. Hence find the
distance from O, and the direction of travel, of the athlete after he has run exactly 10 km
using Version 2. [(i)(a) 440 (b) 4n  n  1 ; 35 (ii) 8 2n  1 ; 1816; away from O.]  

Solution:
(i)(a)
Total Distance  2  4  8  12  ... to 10 terms
 
A.P. with a  4, d  4, n 10

 10 
 2   2(4)  (10  1)(4)  
 2 
 440

(i)(b)
n 
Total distance covered in n stages  2   2(4)  (n  1)(4)  
2 
 n  4n  4 
 4n  n  1
For 4n  n  1  5000 , using GC,
n 4n  n  1
34 4760
35 5040
Least number of stages is 35

(ii)
OA1  4, OA2  8, OA3  16, OA4  32 , …, OAn  4  2 
n 1

Total distance covered in n stages  2  4  8  16  32  ... to n terms

 
G.P. with a  4, r  2, n terms

 4(2n  1) 
 2 
 2 1 
 8(2n  1)
For 8(2n  1)  10000 , using GC,
n 8(2n  1)
10 8184
11 16376
He will reach exactly 10km during the 11th stage.
Distance covered at 11th stage to reach exactly 10km = 10000  8184  1816 m
Since OA11  4  2   4096  1816 , he is running away from O towards A11 .
10