CHAPTER 1: SEQUENCES

INTRODUCTION

• A sequence is a list of numbers arranged in a specified order.

ARITHMETIC SEQUENCE

• Different between any term and preceding term is the same.

• Formula:
(i) Terms
Tn = a + ( n − 1) d

Tn - n th term
a - first term
n - number of terms
d - common different

(ii) Sum
n n
Sn = [ 2a + ( n −1) d ] or Sn = [a + l ]
2 2

S n - sum of the first n terms

a - first term
n - number of terms
d - common different
l - last term

• Example 1: Given the sequence 4,8,12,……

(a) Find the 12th term
(b) Find the sum of the first 12 terms
Example 2: The first term in an arithmetic progression is 2. The sum of its first 30 terms is 1800.
Find the 20th term.
Example 3: The first term in an arithmetic sequence is -5 and the last term is 40. If the common
difference is 3, find
(a) the number of terms in the sequence
(b) the sum of all terms in the sequence

GEOMETRIC SEQUENCE
• Ratio of each term to the preceding term is the same.
• Formula:
(i) Terms
Tn = ar n −1

Tn - n th term
a - first term
n - number of terms
r - common ratio

(iii) Sum

 r n − 1  1− rn 
Sn = a  if r 〉 1 or Sn = a  i f r 〈 1
 r−1
 1− r 
S n - sum of the first n terms
a - first term
n - number of terms
r - common ratio

• Example 1: Given the sequence 4,8,16,……Hence, find

(a) the 8th term
(b) the sum of the first 8 terms
Example 2: The first term and the 5th term of a geometric progression are 3 and 48 respectively.
Find
(a) the common ratio if it is positive
(b) the sum of the first 10 terms