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SERIES AND SEQUENCES

F. NARH
Ghana International School

Objectives
• recognise Arithmetic Progression(AP) and Geometric
progression(GP)
• use the formulae for the nth term and for the sum of the
first n terms to solve problems involving arithmetic or
geometric progressions;
• use the condition for the convergence of a geometric
progression, and the formula for the sum to infinity of a
convergent geometric progression.

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Arithmetic Progression(AP)
These are sequences where the difference
between successive terms of the sequence is
always the same number.
This number is called the common difference,
usually denoted by d.
The first term of a sequence is usually denoted
by a

Examples of an AP
3, 7, 11, 15, 19 …
The difference between the terms is 4. 4 is then called the
common difference, the first term is 3 therefore a = 3 and
d = 4.

11, 8, 5, 2, -1, -4, …

(In this sequence a = 11 and d = –3)

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The nth term of an Arithmetic Progression(AP).

𝑻𝟏 = 𝒂
𝑻𝟐 = 𝒂 + 𝒅
𝑻𝟑 = 𝒂 + 𝟐𝒅
𝑻𝟒 = 𝒂 + 𝟑𝒅
𝑻𝟓 = 𝒂 + 𝟒𝒅
.
.
.
𝑻𝒏 = 𝒂 + 𝒏 − 𝟏 𝒅

Example 1

Given the sequence; 79, 75, 71, 67, 63,…

What term number is –169?
Solution:

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Example 2
The fourth term of an AP is 3 and the 20th term is 35. Find
the first term and the common difference.
Solution:
𝒂 + 𝟑𝒅 = 𝟑
𝒂 + 𝟏𝟗𝒅 = 𝟑𝟓
By solving simultaneously;
𝟏𝟔𝒅 = 𝟑𝟐
𝒅=𝟐
𝒂 = −𝟑

Example 3
The nth term of an AP is 12 – 4n. Find the first
term and the common difference.
Solution:
𝒏
𝟏
𝟐
Therefore; and

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Example 4
The 8th term of an AP is 11 and the 15th term is 21.
Find the common difference and the first term.
Solution:
8th term:
15th term:
By solving simultaneously;

𝟏𝟎
𝟕

Example 5
The 6th term of an AP is twice the 3rd term and the first term
is 3. Find the common difference and the 10th term.
Solution:
𝑻𝟔 = 𝒂 + 𝟓𝒅
𝑻𝟑 = 𝒂 + 𝟐𝒅 𝑻𝟏𝟎 = 𝒂 + 𝟗𝒅
𝑻𝟔 = 𝟐𝑻𝟑 = 𝟑 + 𝟗(𝟑)
𝒂 + 𝟓𝒅 = 𝟐 𝒂 + 𝟐𝒅
𝟑 + 𝟓𝒅 = 𝟐 𝟑 + 𝟐𝒅 = 𝟑𝟎
𝟓𝒅 − 𝟒𝒅 = 𝟔 − 𝟑
𝒅=𝟑

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The sum of an AP
𝒏 𝒂 𝑻𝒏
The sum of an AP is given by; 𝒏 𝟐

But; 𝒏
𝒏(𝒂 (𝒂 𝒏 𝟏 𝒅)
Therefore; 𝒏 𝟐

𝒏
Hence; 𝒏 𝟐

Example 1
Find the sum of the first 60 terms of the AP;
–19, –13, –7, …
Solution:
𝒏
𝒏 𝟐

𝟔𝟎
𝟔𝟎 𝟐
𝟔𝟎

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Example 2
An auditorium has 20 rows of seats. There are 20
seats in the first row, 22 seats in the second row, 24
seats in the third row, and so on. How many seats
are there in all the 20 rows?
Solution:

𝒏
𝒏 𝟐
𝟐𝟎
𝟐𝟎 𝟐
𝟐𝟎

Example 3
A small business sells $10,000 worth of sports materials during its first
year. The owner of the business has set a goal of increasing annual
sales by $7500 each year for 20 years. Assuming that the goal is met,
find the total sales during the first 20 years this business is in
operation.
Solution:
𝒂 = 𝟏𝟎, 𝟎𝟎𝟎, 𝒅 = 𝟕𝟓𝟎𝟎, 𝒏 = 𝟐𝟎
𝒏
𝑺𝒏 = 𝟐𝒂 + 𝒏 − 𝟏 𝒅
𝟐
𝟐𝟎
𝑺𝟐𝟎 = 𝟐(𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎) + 𝟐𝟎 − 𝟏 𝟕𝟓𝟎𝟎
𝟐
𝑺𝟐𝟎 = $𝟏𝟔𝟐𝟓𝟎𝟎𝟎

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Exams style question

In an arithmetic progression, the 1st term is −10, the 15th term is 11 and the
last term is 41. Find the sum of all the terms in the progression. [5]
Solution:
𝒂 = −𝟏𝟎 𝒏
𝒂 + 𝟏𝟒𝒅 = 𝟏𝟏 𝑺𝒏 = 𝟐𝒂 + 𝒏 − 𝟏 𝒅
−𝟏𝟎 + 𝟏𝟒𝒅 = 𝟏𝟏
𝟐
𝟑
𝒅=𝟐 𝟑𝟓 𝟑
𝒂 + (𝒏 − 𝟏)𝒅 = 𝟒𝟏 𝑺𝟑𝟓 = 𝟐 −𝟏𝟎 + (𝟑𝟒)
𝟑
𝟐 𝟐
−𝟏𝟎 + 𝒏 − 𝟏 𝟐
= 𝟒𝟏
𝟑 𝟑
−𝟏𝟎 + 𝟐 𝒏 − 𝟐 = 𝟒𝟏 𝑺𝟑𝟓 = 𝟓𝟒𝟐. 𝟓
𝒏 = 𝟑𝟓

Exams style question

The ninth term of an arithmetic progression is 22 and the sum of the first
4 terms is 49.
(i) Find the first term of the progression and the common difference. [4]
The nth term of the progression is 46.
(ii) Find the value of n. [2]
Solution:
(i) 𝒂 + 𝟖𝒅 = 𝟐𝟐 ----(1) 𝑻𝒏 = 𝟒𝟔
𝟒 𝒂 + 𝒏 − 𝟏 𝒅 = 𝟒𝟔
𝟐𝒂 + 𝟒 − 𝟏 𝒅 = 𝟒𝟗
𝟐
𝟒𝒂 + 𝟔𝒅 = 𝟒𝟗 ----(2) 𝟑
𝟏𝟎 + 𝒏 − 𝟏 = 𝟒𝟔
𝟐
By solving (1) and (2) simultaneously; 𝟑 𝟑
𝟑 𝒏 − = 𝟑𝟔
𝒂 = 𝟏𝟎, 𝒅 = 𝟐
𝟐 𝟐
𝟏. 𝟓𝒏 = 𝟑𝟕. 𝟓
𝒏 = 𝟐𝟓

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Geometric Progression(GP)
A Geometric Progression (GP) or Geometric Series is one
in which each term is found by multiplying the previous
term by a fixed number (common ratio). The common
ratio is usually denoted by the letter r.
Examples:
5, 10, 20, 40, … 𝒓 = 𝟐
2, – 4, 8, –16, … 𝒓 = −𝟐
𝟏
20, 10, 5, 2.5, ... 𝒓=
𝟐 𝑻𝒏
𝒓 is given by;
𝑻𝒏 𝟏

Finding the nth term of a GP

If the first term is denoted by a, and the common ratio by r,
the series can be written as:
T1 = a
T2 = ar1
T3 = ar2 Hence the n th term of a GP is given by
T4 = ar3 Tn  ar n 1
T5 = ar4
.
.
.
Tn = arn –1

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Example 1
For the series 2 + 6 + 18 + 54 + …
Find the 10th term.
Solution:
𝟏𝟎 𝟏
𝟏𝟎
𝟗

Example 2
In a Geometric Series, the third term is 36, and the sixth term is 121.5.
(a) find the common ratio and the first term
(b) find the twentieth term.
Solution:
(a) 𝒂𝒓𝟐 = 𝟑𝟔 ----- (1)
𝒂𝒓𝟓 = 𝟏𝟐𝟏. 𝟓 ----- (2)
(𝟐) ÷ (𝟏)
𝒂𝒓𝟓 𝟏𝟐𝟏.𝟓
= 𝟑𝟔
𝒂𝒓𝟐
𝟑
𝒓 = 𝟑. 𝟑𝟕𝟓
𝟑𝟔
𝒓 = 𝟏. 𝟓, 𝒂= 𝟏.𝟓 𝟐
= 𝟏𝟔
(b) 𝑻𝟐𝟎 = 𝒂𝒓𝟏𝟗
𝑻𝟐𝟎 = 𝟏𝟔 𝟏. 𝟓 𝟏𝟗
≈ 𝟑𝟓𝟒𝟔𝟗. 𝟒
= 𝟑𝟓𝟓𝟎𝟎 (3 s.f)

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Example 3
The first three terms of a geometric progression are x, x + 3, 4x.
(a) Find the two possible values of x
(b) For each value of x, find the first three terms, and the common ratio.
Solution:
𝒙 𝟑 𝟒𝒙
(a) =
𝒙 𝒙 𝟑
𝒙 + 𝟑 𝒙 + 𝟑 = 𝟒𝒙𝟐
𝒙𝟐 + 𝟔𝒙 + 𝟗 = 𝟒𝒙𝟐
𝟑𝒙𝟐 − 𝟔𝒙 − 𝟗 = 𝟎
𝒙𝟐 − 𝟐𝒙 − 𝟑 = 𝟎
By solving the quadratic equation; 𝒙 = 𝟑 𝒐𝒓 − 𝟏
(b) If 𝒙 = 𝟑, 𝟑, 𝟔, 𝟏𝟐 𝒓 = 𝟐
If 𝒙 = −𝟏, −𝟏, 𝟐, −𝟒 𝒓 = −𝟐

Sum of a GP
The sum of the first n terms of a GP is given by;
𝒏
𝒏

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Example 1
Find the sum of the first 20 terms of the following GPs;
(a) 2 + 6 + 18 + ….
(b) 4 + 2 + 1 + 0.5 + …
𝟐(𝟏 𝟑𝟐𝟎 )
(a) 𝟐𝟎 𝟏 𝟑

𝟏 𝟐𝟎
𝟒 𝟏
𝟐
(b) 𝟐𝟎 𝟏
𝟏
𝟐

Example 2
For the series 32 – 16 + 8 – 4 + 2 …
Find;
(a)The 12th term.
(b) The sum of the first 7 terms.
Solution:
𝟏 𝟏𝟏
(a) 𝑻𝟏𝟐 = 𝟑𝟐 −𝟐 = −𝟎. 𝟎𝟏𝟓𝟔𝟐𝟓
𝟏 𝟕
𝟑𝟐 𝟏
𝟐
(b) 𝑺𝟕 = 𝟏 = 𝟐𝟏. 𝟓
𝟏
𝟐

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Exams style question

A geometric progression has 6 terms. The first term is 192 and the common
ratio is 1.5. An arithmetic progression has 21 terms and common difference 1.5.
Given that the sum of all the terms in the geometric progression is equal to the
sum of all the terms in the arithmetic progression, find the first term and the
last term of the arithmetic progression. [6]
Solution:
𝟐𝟏
For the GP 𝟐𝒂 + 𝟐𝟎(𝟏. 𝟓) = 𝟑𝟗𝟗𝟎
𝟐
𝒂 = 𝟏𝟗𝟐, 𝒏 = 𝟔, 𝒓 = 𝟏. 𝟓 𝒂 = 𝟏𝟕𝟓
𝟏𝟗𝟐 𝟏.𝟓𝟔 𝟏
𝑺𝟔 = = 𝟑𝟗𝟗𝟎
𝟏.𝟓 𝟏 𝑻𝒏 = 𝒂 + 𝒏 − 𝟏 𝒅
For the AP
𝒏 = 𝟐𝟏, 𝒅 = 𝟏. 𝟓 𝑻𝟐𝟏 = 𝟏𝟕𝟓 + 𝟐𝟎(𝟏. 𝟓)
𝑺𝟐𝟏 = 𝟑𝟗𝟗𝟎
= 𝟐𝟎𝟓

Exams style question

Each year a company gives a grant to a charity. The amount given each
year increases by 4% of its value in the preceding year. The grant in 2001
was $5000. Find
(i) the grant given in 2011, [3]
(ii) the total amount of money given to the charity during the years 2001 to
2011 inclusive. [2]
Solution:
(i) 𝒂 = 𝟓𝟎𝟎𝟎, 𝒓 = 𝟏. 𝟎𝟒, 𝒏 = 𝟏𝟏
𝑻𝒏 = 𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝟏
𝑻𝟏𝟏 = 𝟓𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝟏. 𝟎𝟒 𝟏𝟎 = 𝟕𝟒𝟎𝟏. 𝟐𝟐
𝟓𝟎𝟎𝟎(𝟏.𝟎𝟒𝟏𝟏 𝟏)
(ii) 𝑺𝟏𝟏 = 𝟏.𝟎𝟒 𝟏
= 𝟔𝟕𝟒𝟑𝟏. 𝟕𝟔

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Sum to Infinity of a GP
Consider the general GP;
𝒂 + 𝒂𝒓 + 𝒂𝒓𝟐 + 𝒂𝒓𝟑 + 𝒂𝒓𝟒 + ⋯
𝒂 𝟏 𝒓𝒏
𝑺𝒏 =
𝟏 𝒓
If |r| < 1, then as n → ∞, r∞ = 0
The sum to infinity of a GP is then given by;
𝒂 𝟏−𝒓
𝑺 =
𝟏−𝒓
𝒂(𝟏 − 𝟎)
𝑺 =
𝟏−𝒓
𝒂
Therefore: 𝑺 = , 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒓 < 𝟏
𝟏 𝒓

Example 1
Find the sum to infinity of the following GPs,
𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
(a) 𝟏 + + + +⋯
𝟑 𝟗 𝟐𝟕
𝒂
𝑺 =
𝟏 𝒓
𝟏 𝟑
𝑺 = 𝟏 =
𝟏 𝟐
𝟑
(b) 0.5 + 0.05 + 0.005 + ….
𝟎.𝟓 𝟓
𝑺 = =
𝟏 𝟎.𝟏 𝟗
(c) 12 + 6 + 3 + 1.5 + …
𝟏𝟐
𝑺 = = 𝟐𝟒
𝟏 𝟎.𝟓

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Exams style question

A geometric progression has first term 64 and sum to infinity 256. Find
(i) the common ratio, [2]
(ii) the sum of the first ten terms. [2]
Solution:
(i) 𝑺 = 𝟐𝟓𝟔
𝟔𝟒
𝟏 𝒓
= 𝟐𝟓𝟔
𝟔𝟒 = 𝟐𝟓𝟔(𝟏 − 𝒓)
𝟔𝟒 = 𝟐𝟓𝟔 − 𝟐𝟓𝟔𝒓
𝟑
𝒓=
𝟒
𝟑 𝟏𝟎
𝟔𝟒 𝟏 𝟒
(ii) 𝑺𝟏𝟎 = 𝟑
𝟏
𝟒
𝑺𝟏𝟎 = 𝟐𝟒𝟏. 𝟔

Exams style question

The third term of a geometric progression is −108 and the sixth term
is 32. Find;
(i) the common ratio, [3]
(ii) the first term, [1]
(iii) the sum to infinity. [2]
Solution:
(i) 𝒂𝒓𝟐 = −𝟏𝟎𝟖 𝟐 𝟐
(ii) 𝒂 − 𝟑 = −𝟏𝟎𝟖
𝒂𝒓𝟓 = 𝟑𝟐 𝟗
𝒂 = −𝟏𝟎𝟖 × 𝟒 = −𝟐𝟒𝟑
𝟑 𝟑𝟐
𝒓 =
𝟏𝟎𝟖
𝟐 𝟐𝟒𝟑 𝟕𝟐𝟗
𝒓=− (iii) 𝑺 = 𝟐 =−
𝟑 𝟏 𝟓
𝟑

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Exams style question

The second term of a geometric progression is 3 and the sum to infinity is 12.
(i) Find the first term of the progression. [4]
An arithmetic progression has the same first and second terms as the geometric
progression.
(ii) Find the sum of the first 20 terms of the arithmetic progression. [3]
Solution:
𝒂 (ii) 𝒂 = 𝟔, 𝒂 + 𝒅 = 𝟑
(i) 𝒂𝒓 = 𝟑, = 𝟏𝟐
𝟏 𝒓
𝒂
𝟑 = 𝟏𝟐 𝒅 = −𝟑
𝟏
𝒂
𝟑𝟔
𝒂 = 𝟏𝟐 − 𝒂 𝟐𝟎
𝒂𝟐 = 𝟏𝟐𝒂 − 𝟑𝟔 𝑺𝟐𝟎 = 𝟐 𝟔 + (𝟐𝟎 − 𝟏)(−𝟑)
𝟐
𝒂𝟐 − 𝟏𝟐𝒂 + 𝟑𝟔 = 𝟎
𝒂=𝟔 𝑺𝟐𝟎 = −𝟒𝟓𝟎

Exams style question

(a) The first term of a geometric progression in which all the terms are positive is 50. The
third term is 32. Find the sum to infinity of the progression. [3]
(b) The first three terms of an arithmetic progression are 𝟐𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒙, 𝟑𝒄𝒐𝒔𝒙 and
(𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝒙 + 𝟐𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝒙) respectively, where x is an acute angle.
𝟒
(i) Show that 𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒙 = 𝟑. [3]
(ii) Find the sum of the first twenty terms of the progression. [3]
Solution:
(a) 𝒂 = 𝟓𝟎, 𝒂𝒓𝟐 = 𝟑𝟐 𝟒
𝟑𝟐 𝟏𝟔 𝟒 (ii) 𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝟏 = 𝟎. 𝟗𝟐𝟕 𝑺𝟐𝟎 = 𝟏𝟎 𝟐 𝟏. 𝟔 + 𝟏𝟗(𝟎. 𝟐)
𝒓𝟐 = = , 𝒓 = 𝟑
𝟓𝟎
𝟓𝟎
𝟐𝟓 𝟓 𝒂 = 𝟏. 𝟔, 𝒅 = 𝟎. 𝟐 =𝟕𝟎
𝑺 = 𝟒 = 𝟐𝟓𝟎.
𝟏
𝟓
(b) 𝟑𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝒙 − 𝟐𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝒙 = 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝒙 + 𝟐𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝒙 − 𝟑𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝒙
𝟑𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝒙 + 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝒙 = 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝒙 + 𝟐𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝒙
𝟒𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝒙 = 𝟑𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝒙
𝟒 = 𝟑𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒙
𝟒
𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒙 =
𝟑

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Exams style question

(a) An arithmetic progression has a first term of 32, a 5th term of 22 and a last term of
−28. Find the sum of all the terms in the progression. [4]
(b) Each year a school allocates a sum of money for the library. The amount allocated
each year increases by 2.5% of the amount allocated the previous year. In 2005 the
school allocated $2000. Find the total amount allocated in the years 2005 to 2014
inclusive. [3]
Solution:
(a) 𝒂 = 𝟑𝟐, 𝒂 + 𝟒𝒅 = 𝟐𝟐 (b) 𝒂 = 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟎
𝒅 = −𝟐. 𝟓 𝒓 = 𝟏. 𝟎𝟐𝟓
𝟑𝟐 + 𝒏 − 𝟏 −𝟐. 𝟓 = −𝟐𝟖 𝒏 = 𝟏𝟎
−𝟐. 𝟓𝒏 + 𝟐. 𝟓 = −𝟔𝟎
𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟎(𝟏. 𝟎𝟐𝟓𝟏𝟎 − 𝟏)
𝒏 = 𝟐𝟓 𝑺𝟏𝟎 =
𝟐𝟓
𝟏. 𝟎𝟐𝟓 − 𝟏
𝑺𝟐𝟓 = 𝟐(𝟑𝟐 + (𝟐𝟒)(−𝟐. 𝟓))
𝟐
𝑺𝟐𝟓 = 𝟓𝟎 𝑺𝟏𝟎 = $𝟐𝟐𝟒𝟎𝟔. 𝟕𝟔

Exams style question

(a) The first two terms of an arithmetic progression are 16 and 24. Find the least number of
terms of the progression which must be taken for their sum to exceed 20000. [4]
(b) A geometric progression has a first term of 6 and a sum to infinity of 18. A new geometric
progression is formed by squaring each of the terms of the original progression. Find the
sum to infinity of the new progression. [4]
Solution:
𝟖
(a) 𝒂 = 𝟏𝟔, 𝒂 + 𝒅 = 𝟐𝟒, 𝒅 = 𝟖 GP1 = 𝟔, 𝟒, … .
𝒏 𝟑
𝑺𝒏 = 𝟐 (𝟑𝟐 + 𝒏 − 𝟏 𝟖 )
𝒏
𝟐
𝟑𝟐 + 𝟖𝒏 − 𝟖 > 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 GP2 = 𝟑𝟔, 𝟏𝟔, … .
𝟐𝟒𝒏 + 𝟖𝒏𝟐 > 𝟒𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎
𝒏𝟐 + 𝟑𝒏 − 𝟓𝟎𝟎𝟎 > 𝟎
Critical Values; 𝒏 = 𝟔𝟗. 𝟐𝟑 𝒐𝒓 − 𝟕𝟐. 𝟐𝟑 𝟑𝟔
Therefore; 𝒏 = 𝟕𝟎. 𝑺 =
𝟒
𝟔 𝟏−
(b) 𝟏 = 𝟏𝟖 𝟗
𝒓 = 𝟔𝟒. 𝟖
𝟐
𝒓=
𝟑

17
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Exams style question

A geometric progression, for which the common ratio is positive, has a second
term of 18 and a fourth term of 8. Find
(i) the first term and the common ratio of the progression, [3]
(ii) the sum to infinity of the progression. [2]
Solution:
(i) 𝒂𝒓 = 𝟏𝟖, 𝒂𝒓𝟑 = 𝟖
𝟒 𝟐
𝒓𝟐 = , 𝒓 =
𝟗 𝟑
𝟐
𝒂 = 𝟏𝟖
𝟑
𝒂 = 𝟐𝟕
𝟐𝟕
(ii) 𝑺 = 𝟐
𝟏
𝟑

𝑺 = 𝟖𝟏

Exams style question

(a) The fifth term of an arithmetic progression is 18 and the sum of the first 5 terms is
75. Find the first term and the common difference. [4]
𝟐𝟕
(b) The first term of a geometric progression is 16 and the fourth term is 𝟒
. Find the
sum to infinity of the progression. [3]
Solution:
(a) 𝒂 + 𝟒𝒅 = 𝟏𝟖 ---(1)
𝟓 𝟐𝟕
𝟑
𝟐𝒂 + 𝟒𝒅 = 𝟕𝟓 𝒓=
𝟐
𝟏𝟎𝒂 + 𝟐𝟎𝒅 = 𝟏𝟓𝟎 ---(2) 𝟔𝟒
By solving (1) and (2) simultaneously; 𝟑
𝒂 = 𝟏𝟐 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝒅 = 𝟏. 𝟓
𝒓=
𝟒
First term = 12, common difference = 1.5
(b) 𝒂 = 𝟏𝟔, 𝒂𝒓𝟑 = 𝟒
𝟐𝟕 𝒂
𝑺 =
By substituting 𝒂 = 𝟏𝟔, 𝟏−𝒓
𝟐𝟕
𝟏𝟔
𝟏𝟔𝒓𝟑 = 𝑺 =
𝟒 𝟑
𝟐𝟕 𝟏−𝟒
𝒓𝟑 =
𝟔𝟒
𝑺 = 𝟔𝟒

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