Sequence and Series

CoPP_1 FIITJEE
nth term of an A.P.

1. If 6th and 11th term of an A.P. are respectively 17 and 32. Find the 20th term. [Ans. 59]

2. In an A.P. if tp = q and tq = p then find the rth term. [Ans. p + q – r]

3. In an A.P. if , a2 + a5 – a3 = 10 and a2 + a9 = 17 then find the 1st term and the common

difference. [a1= 13 and d = – 1]

4. If pth, qth and rth term of an A.P. are a, b, and c, then prove that a(q – r) + b(r – p) + c(p – q) = 0

Sum of n terms of an A.P.

5. The first term of an A.P. is 5; the last is 45, and the sum of terms is 400. Find the number of terms
and the common difference. [Ans. n = 16, d = ]

6. The sum of first 3 terms of an A.P. is 27 and the sum of their squares is 293. Find Sn.

[Ans. Sn =
n (5n + 3) or n (33 – 5n)]
2 2

7. In an A.P. if tm =
1 and t = 1 then show that S = (mn+1)
n n
m mn
2

1 2
8. How many terms of the sequence, 20 + 19 +18 + ........ must be taken so that there sum is 300.
3 3
Explain the reason of double answer [Ans. 36 or 25]

9. The ratio of sum of n terms of two A.P.'s is 7n + 1: 4n + 27, find the ratio of their 11 th terms.

10. If S1, S2, S3, ...... Sp are the sums of n terms of 'p' arithmetic series whose first terms are 1, 2, 3,

4........ and common difference are 1, 3, 5, 7, ......; Prove S1 + S2 + S3 + ....... + Sp = np(np +1)
2

11. In an A.P. Sp = q and Sq = p then show that Sp+q = – (p + q)

Properties of A.P.

12. The number of terms in an A.P. is even, the sum of the odd terms is 24, of the even terms is 30, and
1
the last term exceeds the first term by 1 0 . Find the number of terms.
2

13. Find the sum of all integers between 1 to 100 which are divisible by 2 or 3.
14. Find nth term of the sequence whose sum to n terms is 5n2 + 2n [Ans. Tn = 10n –3]

15. Find S = 1002 – 992 + 982 – 972 + 962 – 952 + ........ + 22 – 12 Ans= 5050.

Sequence and Series

CoPP_2 FIITJEE
Properties of A.P.

16. If a, b, c are in A.P. then prove that followings are also in A.P.

(a) b+c;c+a;a+b (b) (b + c)2 – a2 ; (c + a)2 – b2 ; (a + b)2 – c2

17. If a2, b2, c2 are in A.P. then prove that

1 1 1 a b c
(a) , , , , are in A.P. (b) , , are in A.P.
b+c c +a a+ b b+c c +a a+ b

Arithmetic Mean

18. Insert 20 A.M.'s between 4 and 67.

A3 2
19. If p arithmetic means are inserted between 5 and 41 so that the ratio = then find the value
A p−1 5
of p. [Ans. p = 11]

20. A number sequence a1, a2, a3 ....... an is such that a1 = 0 ; and | an | = | an – 1 + 1 | for n ≥ 2,

Prove that the arithmetic mean of a1, a2, ....... an is not less than −1 .
2

General Illustration on A.P.

x 7
21. If log3 2, log3 (2 x - 5) & , log 3(2 − ) are in AP, determine x. [Ans: x = 3, IIT’90, 04]
2

( x – 1) (x – 2) ( x – 3) 1
22. Solve the equation + + +...+ =3 [Ans. x = 7]
x x x x

23. Find the condition that the roots of the equation x3 – px2 + qx – r = 0 may be in A.P. and hence

solve the equation x3 – 12x2 + 39x – 28 =0. [Ans. 2p3 – 9pq + 27r = 0, x = 1, 4, 7]

24. If the first 3 terms of an increasing A.P. are the roots of the cubic 4x3 – 24x2 + 23x + 18 = 0, then

find Sn. [Ans. n (5n – 7)]

2
25. If the sum of the roots of the equation ax² + bx + c = 0 is equal to the sum of the squares of their
reciprocals, then show that bc², ca², ab² are in AP.

26. Given a1, a2, a3.....an in A.P. Prove that

1 1 1 1 2
+ + + … … .. =
a1 an a2 a n−1 a3 an−2 a n a1
a1 +¿a 2
[ 1 1
+ +… … .+
a1 a2
1
an
¿
]
27. Prove that √ 2 , √ 3 , √ 5 can not be the terms of an A.P. (not necessarily adjacent)

Sequence and Series

CoPP_3 FIITJEE
Geometrical Progression

28. In a G.P. if t3 = 2 and t6 = –

1 find t .
4 10

29. If pth, qth and rth terms of a G.P. are x, y and z respectively, prove that xq – r· yr – p· zp – q = 1

Sum of n terms of a G.P.

30. The sum of first 3 consecutive terms of a G.P. is 19 and their product is 216. Find Sn, also compute

S∞ if it exist. [ S∞ = 27, if r < 1]

31. In a G.P. with a 1+a 2+ a3=13∧a 12+ a 22+ a 32=91. Find Sn

32. The sum of an infinite number of terms of a G.P. is 15 and the sum of their squares is 45. Find the
series.

|∑ {
n n
33. ∑ δ rs 2r 3 s ( an elegant way of expressing a G . P . ) , where δ rs = 0 , if r ≠ s
r=1 s=1 1 ,if r =s

Properties of G.P.

34. (a) Use infinite series to compute the rational number corresponding to 0.423

(b) Find the sum S = 9 + 99 + 999 + ...... + 999……9 (n digits)

(c) S = 0.9 + 0.99 + 0.999 + ....... up to n terms.

35. Find the four successive terms of a G.P. of which the 2nd term is smaller than the first by 35 and the

3rd term is larger than the 4th by 560. [Ans. 7, – 28, 112, – 448]

36. If the pth, qth, rth, sth terms of an A.P. are in G.P. show that p – q, q – r , r – s are in G.P.
37. If S1, S2, S3,......Sp are sums of infinite G.P. whose first terms are 1, 2, 3, .......p, and common ratios

1 1 1 1 p
are , , ,… … …. , ,respectively. Prove that S1 + S2 + S3 + .......Sp = (p + 3).
2 3 4 p+ 1 2

Geometrical Mean

38. Insert 4 GM's between 5 and 160.

39. If A.M. of two numbers a and b is n times their GM then show that a : b = n+ √ n 2−4 :n−√ n2−4

40. If a, b, c are in G.P. and x, y are respectively the AM's between a, b and b, c then prove that

1 1 2 a c
+ = and + = 2
x y b x y

Sequence and Series

CoPP_4 FIITJEE
Relation in A.M and G.M.
41. If x > 0, y > 0, z > 0 then prove that (x + y)(y + z)(z + x) ≥ 8xyz

42. Prove that a ∆ ABC is equilateral if and only tanA + tanB + tanC = 3 √ 3

10 4
3 2
2 3 2
43. If a + b + c = 3 and a, b, c > 0 then prove that a b c ≤ 7
7

Arithmetico-Geometric Progression (A.G.P.)

44. If | x | < 1 then compute the sum

−2
(a) 1 + 2x + 3x2 + 4x3 + ........... [Ans. ( 1−x ) ]

−3
(b) 1 + 3x + 6x2 + 10x3 + ............... [Ans. ( 1−x ) ]

45. Find the sum to n terms and also S∞ .

4 7 10 35 12n+ 7 35
(a) 1+ + 2 + 3 + ........... [Ans. Sn = – n −1
; S∞ = ]
5 5 5 16 16.5 16

(b) 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + ......
5 15 45 135
[Ans. Sn =
3
5[ n+ 2
2− n ]
3 ]
3 33 333 3333
46. + 2 + 3+ 4 + .......... ∞
19 19 19 19

Miscellaneous sequences (Type-1)

 n n n
47 . Find ∑ ∑ ∑ 1
i=1 j=1 k=1

48. The value of positive integer n for which the quadratic equation

∑ ( x +k −1 ) ( x + k )=10 n , has solution s α ∧α +1 for some α .

k =1

[ Ans 11]

49. Compute the sum (31)2 + (32)2 + (33)2 + ....... + (50)2

50. Compute the sum of the series whose nth term is given by Tn = n(n + 1)(3n – 1)

Type-2 (Using method of difference)

51. 6 + 13 + 22 + 33 + .................. n terms 52. 5 + 7 + 13 + 31 + 85 + ........... n terms.

53. 2 + 5 + 14 + 41 + 122 + ........ up to n terms. [Ans. (3n + 1 + 2n – 3)]

( )( )
n
1 1 1 3 ( 2 n−1 )+ 1
54. 1+ 1+ + 1+ + 2 +........+n terms[ Ans . ]
3 3 3 4.3n−1

Sequence and Series

CoPP_5 FIITJEE
Type -3 (Splitting the nth term as a difference of two)

1 1 1 1 1 1
55. + + + ...… … . [ Ans . S n= – ;S = ]
1.2.3 .4 2.3.4 .5 3.4 .5 .6 18 3(n+ 1)(n+ 2)(n+ 3) ∞ 18

1 1 1 3 4 5
56. + + + ...… … ∞ 57. + + +... … … .
1.3.5 3.5.7 5.7 .9 1.2.4 2.3 .5 3.4 .6

1 2 3 1 1.3 1.3 .5
58. + + +... … … . 59. + + +.... … , Find S n∧S∞
1.3 1.3 .5 1.3 .5.7 2.4 2.4 .6 2.4 .6 .8

Type-4

60. 1·2·3·4 + 2·3·4·5 + 3·4·5·6 + ........ up to n terms Ans. Sn = [n(n + 1)(n + 2)(n + 3)(n + 4)]

HARMONICAL PROGRESSION (HP)

1 1 3
61. If the 3rd , 6th and last term of a H.P. are , , , find the number of terms. [Ans. 100]
3 5 203

mn
62. If mth term of an H.P. is n, and nth term is equal to m then prove that (m + n)th term is .
m+ n
63. If a1, a2, a3......an are in H.P. then prove that a1a2 + a2a3 + a3a4 + ...... + an–1·an = (n – 1)a1an

HARMONICAL MEAN

64. If ‘a’ is A.M. of ‘b’ and ‘c’ ; ‘b’ is G.M. of ‘c’ and ‘a’, then prove that ‘c’ is the H.M. of ‘a’ and ‘b’.

65. If a2, b2, c2 are in A.P. show that b + c, c + a, a + b are in H.P.

Relation between A.M, G.M. and H.M :

a−x a− y a−z
66. If = = and p, q, r are in A.P. then prove that x, y, z are in H.P.
px qy rz

67. If ax = by = cz = dw and a, b, c, d are in G.P. then prove that x, y, z, w are in H.P.

68. If a, b, c are three distinct positive reals in H.P. then prove that an + cn > 2bn

p r a c
69. If a, b, c are in A.P., p, q, r are in H.P. and ap, bq, cr are in G.P. then prove that + = +
r p c a

70. Form a cubic equation A.M., G.M. and H.M. of whose roots are A, G and H respectively.

71. If a, b, c and d are in H.P. then prove that (i) a+d>b+c (ii) ad > bc