Progressions
Progressions
Content
✓ Sequence
✓ Series
✓ Progressions
✓ Arithmetic Progression
✓ Geometric Progression
Sequence
A list of numbers having specific relation between the consecutive terms is generally called a
sequence.
u1, u2, u3, ......, un
Ex: 1, 3, 5, 7, ....................
1, 4, 9, 16, 25, ………….
Series
A series is a sum of the terms (u) in a sequence. If there are n terms in the sequence and we
evaluate the sum then we often write Sn for the result, so that,
Sn = u1 + u2 + u3 + ...... + un
Ex:
1, 3, 5, 7, ....................
S2 = 1 + 3 = 4
Progressions
A Progression is a set of numbers which shows a certain pattern. A Progression may or may
not terminate at some point.
We will consider two types of progressions called Arithmetic and Geometric progressions.
Page 1 of 5
What is the common difference of the below sequence?
8, 5, 2, -1, -4, …………..
=d=1
a a+d a + 2d a + 3d
Page 2 of 5
Find the first 4 terms and the 17th term of the AP with first term 8 and common difference 5.
Solution,
a = 12
d = 20-12 = 8
n
Sn = {2a + (n – 1) d}
2
30
= {2 * 12 + (30 – 1) 8}
2
= 15 (24 + 29 * 8)
= 15 (24 + 232)
= 15 (256)
= 3,840
Page 3 of 5
Find the sum of 50 terms of given AP.
1, 3, 5, 7, ................
If the first term is denoted by a and the common ratio is denoted by r, then we get the standard
form of the GP as,
Consider the GP
a, ar, ar2, ar3, ............
If the sum of the first n terms is denoted by Sn we get
Sn = a + ar + ar2 + ar3 + ............ + arn-1
𝒂 ( 𝟏−𝒓𝒏 )
Sn = ; when r < 1
𝟏−𝒓
Ex:
For the series 2, 6, 18, 54, ............
I. Find the 10th term.
II. The sum of first 8 terms.
Solution:
a=2
r=3
2 ( 38 −1)
II. S8 =
3−1
= 6,560
Page 5 of 5