Sequences

A sequence is a string of objects like numbers that follows a particular pattern

Finite Sequence - sequence that has a fixed number of terms containing the last
term
:
samples 1, 2 3
, ,
4 .
5

5 7 9 11 13
, , , ,

Infinite Sequence - a sequence that has continuous number of terms

:
samples 100 ,
200 , 300 , 400 ,
500
, ...

2
. 4 6 8 10 12 , 14, ...
, , , ,

Terms of a sequence denoted by An

10 ,
20 30 , 40 ,
50
,

a ,, Az ,
As ,
94 , As
n =
5

A sequence is a function whose domain is a set of positive integers; usually a positive

consecutive integers starting with 1
Recursive form of a sequence - sequence in which term/s can be determined using
its preceding term An An + 3 - =
-1

Explicit form - is a sequence in which term/s can be determined without using its
preceding term - An n2 =
 General Rule

If the sequence has the first common difference, use the linear form:

Long Method
Choose any two consecutive terms in the sequence
Substitute to the formula to form equations 1 and 2

Subtract equation 1 from equation 2, solve for the value of the first variable

Substitute the obtained value to either equation 1 or 2 to get the value of the second
variable

Write the general form or the nth term of a sequence using the formula by
substituting the obtained value
 Alternative Method

=
C
=

4/19 vvvvv
- first &
a = 22222

{ 9
7 ,
10 11 , 15 17 (an
, ,
,
-

subtract
2 4 6 8 10
, 12(n)
, , ,
,
-

b =
55555 5

An =
2n + 5

sample

2 4 ,
8 14 22 32
, , , ,

VVVVV
2 468 10

~ vvv
2 22 2

If the sequence has the second common difference, use the quadratic form

An= an+bn +C

=
Choose any three consecutive terms in the sequence
Substitute to the formula to form equations 1, 2, and 3

n
·
n = 2 2

Subtract equation 1 from equation 2 to get equation 4

Subtract equation 2 from equation 3 to get equation 5

4a + 2b + c =
4 9a + 3b + c =
g
-

+
4a + 2b + c =
4
-

4 5a + b =
45
-
-
Subtract equation 4 from equation 5 to get the first variable

Substitute the obtained value to either equation 4 or 5 to get

the second variable

Choose one equation from equation 1, 2, and 3 to get the third variable

Write the nth term or general form of the sequence using the formula by
substituting the obtained values
 Nth term
Steps in finding the general rule/formula for the nth term of the sequence
1. If it has the first common difference use the linear equation
2. If it has the second common difference use the quadratic equation
3. If there is no first or second common difference in the sequence
a. rewrite each term using common numbers
b. relate the number of terms (n) in each number
 Arithmetic Sequence
also known as Arithmetic Progression

Arithmetic Sequence or Arithmetic Progression is a sequence of numbers such that

the difference between two consecutive terms is constant called common difference
(d)
General formula for arithmetic sequence:

to get common difference: subtract the previous number from the preceding number
 nth Term of an
Arithmetic Progression
 Arithmetic Means
found between any two given terms of an arithmetic sequence
To insert arithmetic mean/s between any two terms, let the two given numbers be
the 1st and last term of the sequence, thus any number of arithmetic means may
be inserted between them.

Samples:
What are the 4 arithmetic means between 38 and 48?

What are the three arithmetic means between -8 and 12?

Insert 3 arithmetic means between 2x - y and 6x + 3y

Determine the 2nd and 5th arithmetic means of a sequence with 7 terms whose 1st
and last terms are 7/2 and 43/2
Insert four arithmetic means between 2a + b and 7a + 11b

Find the value of x when the arithmetic mean of 3x + 1 and 4x + 9 is 2x + 11

Insert 3 arithmetic means whose first and last terms are 21 and 31 respectively
 Arithmetic Series
An expression denoting the sum of the arithmetic sequence
To find the sum of n terms of an arithmetic sequence, use the equations;

Samples:

Find the sum of the first 30 terms of the arithmetic sequence 21, 26, 31, 36, 41,...

What is the sum of the finite arithmetic series 11 + 15 + 19 + 23 ... + 87?

What is the sum of the first 15 terms of the arithmetic sequence if the first term is 11
and the 15th term is 109?

Find the sum of the integers between 10 and 100 which are divisible by 3
The first and the third term of the sequence are 3 and -1 respectively, find the sum
of the first 100 terms.

Summation or Sigma Notation

Makes use of the symbol Σ ( sigma ) Greek letter equivalent to S which is the
first letter of the word sum.

The series 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 11 + 13 + 15 + ... + 41 can be written as

Write in expanded form and evaluate

Write the arithmetic series in summation notation

Find the first term, the last term, and the sum of the finite arithmetic series
Find the first term, the last term, and the sum of the finite arithmetic series

If 2x + 3x + 4x + ... + 27x = 754, what is the value of x?

Find the missing elements in the arithmetic sequence given that

 Word Problems Involving Arithmetic
Sequence snd Series
Steps to follow in answering word problems
1. Read, understand, and analyze the given problem.
2. Interpret the information/data into mathematical expression/equation.
3. Think of the method/strategy to be used.
4. Solve the problem and check using the condition and equation.

To solve word problem involving arithmetic sequence and the sum of the
arithmetic series, use the equations

Samples:
Karol made deposits from her school allowances as follows: P10 on the first week,
P13 on the second week, P16 on the third week and so on, until she made 52
deposits.
a. What sequence can we form in the problem?
b. What is the value of
c. What is the common difference?
d. What is the amount of her last deposit?

e. What is the total amount of her allowances made in 52 deposits?

A house helper received a salary of P36,000 after a year with a contract of P250
increase annually. What is his total income in 7 years?
 Every year a tree produces 3 more fruits than it did the previous year. If it bore 12
big fruits in 1995, what is the total number of fruits would it bear until 2008?

On the first day of each month, Ms. Molina deposits a fixed amount in a mutual fund.
On June 1, her account balance was P500, and on December 1, her account balance
will be P2,000.
a. How much does she have to deposit each month?
b. Find the total balance in her account after all the monthly deposit

You visit Grand Canyon and drop a penny off the edge of a cliff. The distance of the
penny will fall is 16 feet the first second, 48 feet the next second, 80 feet the third
second and so on. What is the total distance the object will fall after 6 seconds?
 Geometric Sequences
A Geometric Progression, also known as a Geometric Sequence is a sequence of
numbers where each term after the first is found by multiplying the previous one
by a fixed, non-zero number called the common ratio

The nth term of the general rule for the geometric sequence
Sample:
Write the first five terms of geometric sequence whose first term is 3 and common
ratio is -3

Determine the value of the 9th term of the geometric sequence 3, 6, 12,...

In a geometric sequence, the first term is 1/2 and the 6th term is 16. Find the
common ratio.

Which term is 1458 in the geometric sequence 2, 6, 18,...?

Find the value of the 1st term of the geometric sequence whose 5th and 8th terms
are 405 and 10,935 respectively
 Geometric Means
A term between two terms of a geometric sequence is called geometric mean, or
more specifically, mean proportional
The mean proportional between two numbers is equal to the square root of their
product
Samples:
Find the mean proportional to each pair of numbers

Insert two geometric means between 4 and 500

Find the common ratio and write the missing term/s to form a geometric
sequence
 Finite Geometric Series
To find the sum of the first n terms in a geometric sequence, use the equation for
finite geometric series:

Samples:
The average salary for a construction laborer is Php 158, 048 per year in the
Philippines. Employees in the Philippines can look forward to a 5% increases in
their salaries every year. How much will be the total earning in 10 years?

In the game 2048, what is the total of each numbered tiles?

 Infinite Geometric Sequence
To find the sum of the geometric series;
1. Identify whether the geometric series is infinite or not
2. For infinite geometric series, use the equation

If r is less than -1 or greater than 1 the terms of the series becomes larger. The sum
also gets larger and larger, and the series has no sum. The series diverges.
If r is equal to 1 all of the terms of the series are the same. The series also diverges.
If r is equal to -1 the terms take two values alternately. The terms oscillates between
two values. This is a different type of divergence. The series has no sum.
If r is between -1 and 1, the terms of the series becomes smaller and smaller,
approaching zero in the limit then the series converges to a sum therefore the sum
exists
Samples:
A bouncing ball is dropped from a height of 64 meters. It bounces back 3/4 of the
distance it fell the prior time it hits the ground. Determine the total distance
traveled by the ball

Word Problems Involving

Geometric Sequence

Samples:
A piece of spoiled meat has some bacteria in it. The number of bacteria increases five
times every hour. If the initial number of bacteria is 1000, complete the sequence
until 3 hours. What is the total number of bacteria at the third hour?
The population of a town is 2400 in 2007. The population of the town increased
by 5% annually. What is the population of the town in a year 2010?

A car depreciates in value at the rate of 5% every year. If a car cost Php 650,000
now, what is the value in the 5th year?

A man accepts an annual salary of Php 168,000 with the understanding that he will
receive 8% increase every year. How much will be his salary on the 10th year? How
much will be the total of his earning in 10 years?
Twelve government employees filed their statements of assets and liabilities. Their
net worth are in geometric sequence. If the first employee has a net worth of Php
1,000, the second has a net worth of Php 2,000, the third has a net worth of Php
4,000 and so on, how many of them are millionares?

A rubber ball is dropped on a hard surface from a height of 80ft and bounces up
and down. On each rebound, it bounces up exactly one-half the distance it just came
down. How far is the ball have traveled if you catch it after it reaches the top of the
seventh rebound?

After finishing college, Mr. Gustav Alvarez, a consistent scholar was offered a
managerial position by one of the top business firms in Makati. As a starting
salary, he was given Php 20,000 per month and guaranteed a 7% increase per
month. What was his salary on the twelfth month? Find the total income of Mr.
Gustav in 12 month.
 Harmonic Sequence
Samples:
Find the seventh term of the harmonic sequence

In the harmonic sequence which term is

Find the first term of the harmonic sequence whose fifth and thirtieth terms are
respectively

The sequence 5x + 15, 1 - 4x, 7x + 27... has a common difference. What is the value of x
and the first 5 terms of the corresponding harmonic sequence?
 Harmonic Means
Samples:
Insert 5 harmonic means between

Fibonacci Sequence
A sequence of numbers that starts with one or zero followed by a one and proceeds
based on the rule that each term is equal to the sum of the two preceding terms
General formula:

Find the value of

Find the value of