Progression

Arithmetic progressions (Week 1)

Find the n
th
term as shown in bracket of the following arithmetic progressions
1. 2, 6, 10, 14, [n = 7, n = 10]

2. 21, 18, 15, 12, [n = 10, n = 20]
[-6 ; -36]
3. -6, 1, 8, 15, [n = 10, n = 20]
[57 ; 127]
4. -12, -9, -6, -3, [n = 10, n = 20]
[15 ; 45]
1

Calculate the number of terms in each of the following arithmetic progressions
1. 2, 6, 10, , 82
[21]
2. 21, 18, 15, , -66.
[30]
3. -6, 1, 8, , 190
[29]
4. -12, -9, -6, , 36
[17]
5.
3
22
.., ,
6
5
,
12
7
,
3
1
[29]
6.
3
46
- ..., ,
4
3
- ,
6
5
- ,
3
1
-
[31]
Exercises
1. The first three terms of an arithmetic progression are k-2, k+2, 2k+1. Find the value of k. [ans, 5]
2. The first three terms of an arithmetic progression are k-3, 2k-3, k+1. Find the value of k. [ans, 2]
3. The nth term of an arithmetic progression is given by T
n
= 3n + 1. Find
a. the first term,
b. the common difference. [ans, 4, 3]
4. The nth term of an arithmetic progression is given by T
n
= 4n - 9. Find
a. the first term,
b. the common difference. [ans, -5, 4]
5. Given an arithmetic progression 2, 6, 10, 14, , find the smallest value of n such that the nth term is
greater than 100. [ans, 26]
6. Given an arithmetic progression -12, -9, -6, -3, , find the greatest value of n such that the nth term is
smaller than 200. [ans, 71]
2

7. The third term and eighth term of an arithmetic progression are 6 and 31 respectively. Find the first
term and the common difference. [ans, -4, 5]
8. The fourth term and ninth term of an arithmetic progression are 9 and 29 respectively. Find the first
term and the common difference. [ans, -3, 4]
3

Sum of an arithmetic progressions
Find the sum of the first 20 terms of each of the following arithmetic progressions
1. 2, 6, 10, 14,

[800]
2. 21, 18, 15, 12,
[-150]
3. -6, 1, 8, 15,
[1210]
4. -12, -9, -6, -3,
[330]
5. ... ,
12
13
,
6
5
,
12
7
,
3
1
6. ... ,
4
5
- ,
4
3
- ,
6
5
- ,
3
1
-
4



325
6
[ ]


305
3
[- ]
5

Find the sum of the following arithmetic progressions
1. 2, 6, 10, 14, , 54
[392]
2. 21, 18, 15, 12, , -30
[-81]
3. -6, 1, 8, 15, , 127
[1210]
4. -12, -9, -6, -3, , 30
[135]
Sum of a specific number of consecutive terms
1. Given an arithmetic progression 2, 6, 10, 14,
find the sum from fifth term to the sixteenth term.

2. Given an arithmetic progression 21, 18, 15, 12,
find the sum from seventh term to the eighteenth
term.

6

[480]
[-162]
3. Given an arithmetic progression -6, 1, 8, 15,
find the sum from ninth term to the twentieth
term.
[1104]
4. Given an arithmetic progression -12, -9, -6, -3,
find the sum from eleventh term to the twenty-
eighth term.

[810]
Exercises
1. Given an arithmetic progression 2, 6, 10, 14, , find the value of n for which the sum of the first n
terms is 800. [ans. 20]
2. Given an arithmetic progression 21, 18, 15, 12, find the value of n for which the sum of the first n
terms is -81. [ans. 18]
3. The sum of the first n terms of an arithmetic progression is given by S
n
= 2n
2
+ n. Find
a. the first term,
b. the common difference. [ans, 3 ; 4]
4. The sum of the first n terms of an arithmetic progression is given by S
n
= 2n
2
-5n. Find
a. the first term,
b. the common difference. [ans, -3 ; 4]
5. Given an arithmetic progression 2, 6, 10, 14, find the smallest value of n such that the sum of the
first n terms is greater than 200. [ans, 11]
6. Given an arithmetic progression -12, -9, -6, -3, find the smallest value of n such that the sum of the
first n terms is greater than 243. [ans, 19]
7. The first and last terms of arithmetic are 3 and 21 respectively and the sum of the series is 240. Find
the number of terms. [ans, 20]
8. The first and last terms of an arithmetic progression are -4 and 18 respectively and the sum of the
series is 168. Find the number of terms. [ans, 24]
9. The sum of the first four terms of an arithmetic progression is 36 and the sum of the next ten terms is
370. Find the first term and the common difference. [ans, 3 ; 4]
10. The sum of the first six terms of an arithmetic progression is 42 and the sum of the next twelve terms
is 558. Find the first term and the common difference. [ans, -3 ; 4]
11. The sixth term of an arithmetic progression is 23 and the sum of the first six terms is 78. Find the first
term and the common difference. [ans, 3 ; 4]
12. The eighth term of an arithmetic progression is 25 and the sum of the first eight terms is 88. Find the
first term and the common difference. [ans, -3 ; 4]

7

8

Geometric progressions (Week 2)
Find the fifth term and the tenth term of the following geometric progressions
1. 2, 6, 18, 54,

[162 ; 39366]
2. 3, 12, 48, 192,
[768 ; 786432]
3. 1458, 486, 162, 54,

[18 ;
2
27
]
4. 192, -96, 48, -24,
[12 ;
3
8
-
]
9

10

Calculate the number of terms in each of the following geometric progressions
1. 2, 6, 18, , 1458
[7]
2. 3, 12, 48, , 3072.
[6]
3. 1458, 486, 162, , 2

[7]
4. 192, -96, 48, ,
1
64


[7]
Exercises
1. The first three terms of a geometric progression are k, k + 3, k + 9. Find the value of k. [ans,3]
2. The first three terms of a geometric progression are k-1, k + 2, k + 8. Find the value of k. [ans,4]
3. The nth term of a geometric progression is given by T
n
= 2
2n-1
. Find
(a) the first term,
(b) the common ratio. [ans,2, 4]
4. The nth term of a geometric progression is given by T
n
= 3
3n-2
. Find
(a) the first term,
(b) the common ratio. [ans,3, 27]
5. Given a geometric progression 2, 6, 18, 54, find the smallest value of n such that the nth term is
greater than 100000. [ans,11]
6. Given a geometric progression 3, 12, 48, 192, find the smallest value of n such that the nth term is
greater than 180000. [ans,9]
7. The second term and fifth term of a geometric progression are 12 and 96 respectively. Find the first
term and the common difference. [ans,3, 2]
8. The third term and sixth term of a geometric progression are 108 and 2916 respectively. Find the first
term and the common difference. [ans,3, 12]
9. Given that the first term and the seventh term of an arithmetic progression are -4 and 14 respectively.
Find
a. Common difference, d
b. The sixth term
11

c. The sum of the first ten terms
Sum of a geometric progressions
Find the sum of the first 8 terms of each of the following geometric progressions
1. 2, 6, 18, 54,

[6560]
2. 3, 12, 48, 192,
[5535]
3. 1458, 486, 162, 54,


6560
[ ]
2187
4. 192, -96, 48, -24,
[127.5]
Find the sum of the following geometric progressions
1. 2, 6, 18, , 4374 2. 3, 12, 48, , 3072.
12


[2186] [4095]
3. 1458, 486, 162, , 2
[2186]
4. 192, -96, 48, ,
4
3

[129]
Sum of a specific number of consecutive terms
1. Given a geometric progression 2, 6, 18, 54,
find the sum from fifth term to the ninth term.

[19602]
2. Given a geometric progression 3, 12, 48, 192,
find the sum from sixth term to the tenth term.


[1047552]
3. Given a geometric progression 1458, 486, 162,
54, find the sum from fifth term to the eighth
term.
4. Given an arithmetic progression 192, -96, 48, -24,
find the sum from seventh term to the tenth term.
13


[26.67]
[1.875]
14

Find the sum to infinity of each of the following geometric progressions
1. 8, 4, 2, 1,
[16]
2. 27, 9, 3, 1,
[40.5]
3. 1458, 486, 162, 54,
[2187]
4. 192, -96, 48, -24,
[128]
1. The first term and the sum to infinity of a geometric
progression are 4 and 8 respectively. Find the
common ratio.

1
2
[ ]
2. The first term and the sum to infinity of a geometric
progression are 5and 15 respectively. Find the
common ratio.


2
3
[ ]
3. The common ratio and the sum of a geometric
progression are
1
3
and 30 respectively. Find the
first term.

[20]
4. The common ratio and the sum of a geometric
progression are
4
1
- and 20 respectively. Find the
first term.
[25]
15

16

Express each of the following recurring decimals as a fraction or mixed number in its simplest form
1. 0.5555


5
9
[ ]
2. 0.7777


7
9
[ ]
3. 0.060606


2
33
[ ]
4. 0.020202



2
99
[ ]
5. 0.0363636



2
55
[ ]
6. 0.345345345



115
333
[ ]
7.
3.018
& &


1
55
[3 ]
8.
5.012
& &

4
33
[5 ]
17

18

Exercises
1. Given a geometric progression 2, 6, 18, 54, find the value of n for which the sum of the first n
terms is 19682. [Ans, 9]
2. Given a geometric progression 3, 12, 48, 192, find the value of n for which the sum of the first n
terms is 65535. [Ans, 8]
3. The sum of the first n terms of a geometric progression is given by S
n
= 4
n
- 1. Find
(a) the first term,
(b) the common ratio. [Ans, a= 3 r = 4]
4. The sum of the first n terms of a geometric progression is given by S
n
= 1- (-3)
n
. Find
(a) the first term,
(b) the common ratio. [Ans, a = 4 r = -3]
5. Given a geometric progression 2, 6, 18, 54, find the smallest value of n such that the sum of the
first n terms is greater than 6000. [Ans, n = 8]
6. Given a geometric progression 3, 12, 48, 192, find the smallest value of n such that the sum of the
first n terms is greater than 2000. [Ans, n = 6]
19

Past year questions (Week 3)
1. The first three terms of an arithmetic progression are k-3, k+3, 2k+2. Find
a) the value of k
b) the sum of the first 9 terms of the progression. [3 marks]
[ans: 7, 252]
2. In a geometric progression, the first term is 64 and the fourth term is 27. calculate
(a) the common ration,
(b) the sum to infinity of the geometric progression. [4 marks]
[ans: , 256]
3. Given a geometric progression y,2,
4
y
,p, express p in terms of y. [2 marks]
[ans: p= 8/y
2
]
4. Given an arithmetic progression -7, -3, 1, , state three consecutive terms in this progression
which sum up to 75. [3 marks]
[ans: 29, 25, 21 ]
5. The volume of water in a tank is 450 litres on the first day. Subsequently, 10 litres of water is added to
the tank everyday. Calculate the volume, in litres. Of water in the tank at the end of the 7
th
day.
[2 marks]
[ans : 510]
6. Express the recurring decimal 0.969696 as a fraction in its simplest form. [4 marks]
[ans : 32/33]
7. Diagram below shows the arrangement of the first three of an infinite series of similar triangles. The
first triangle has a base of x cm and a height of y cm. the measurements of the base and height of each
subsequent triangle are half of the measurements of its previous one.
8. The first three terms of a sequence are 2, x, 8. Find the positive value of x so that the sequence is
a. an arithmetic progression
b. a geometric progression. [2 marks]
[ans:5,4]
9. The first three terms of an arithmetic progression are 5, 9, 13. Find
a. the common difference of the progression,
b. the sum of the first 20 terms after the 3
rd
term. [4 marks]
[ans:4, 1100]
10. The sum of the first n terms of the geometric progression 8, 24, 72, is 8744. Find
a. the common ration of the progression
b. the value of n [4 marks]
[ans: 3, 7 ]
20
(a) Show that the area of the triangles form a geometric
progression and state the common ratio . [3 marks]
(b) Given that x=80 cm and y=40 cm,
(i) determine which triangle has an area of
2
1
6
4
cm .
(ii) find the sum to infinity of the area, in cm
2
, of the
triangles. [5 marks]
[ans: , n=5, 2133 1/3 ]

11. The diagram below shows part of an arrangement of bricks of equal size. The number of bricks in the
lowest row is 100. For each of the other rows, the number of bricks is 2 less than in the row below.
The height of each brick is 6 cm. Ali builds a wall by arranging bricks in this way. The number of
bricks in the highest row is 4 , calculate

(a) the height, in cm, of the wall. [3marks]
(b) the total price of the bricks used if the price of one brick is 40 sen. [3marks]
[ans; 49, 294, 2548, RM1019.20 ]
12. The 9
th
term of an arithmetic progression is 4+5p and the sum of the four terms of the progression is
7p-10, where p is a constant. Given that common difference of the progression is 5, find the value of
p.
[3 marks]
[ans: 8]
13. The third term of a geometric progression is 16. The sum of the third term and the fourth term is 8.
Find
a. the first term and the common ratio of the progression.
b. The sum to infinity of the progression. [4 marks]
[ans: 64, 42 2/3 ]
14. Three consecutive terms of an arithmetic progression are 5-x, 8, 2x. Find the common difference of
the progression. [3 marks]
Answer :14
15. The first three terms of a geometric progression are 27, 18,12. Find the sum to infinity of the
geometric progression. [3 marks]
Answer : 81
16. Diagram shows the side elevation of part of stairs built of cement blocks. The thickness of
each block is 15 cm. The length of the first block is 985 cm. The length of each subsequent
block is 30 cm less than the preceding block as shown in the diagram.
21
(a) If the height of the stairs to be built is 3 m, calculate
(i) the length of the top most block
(ii) the total length of the blocks. [5marks]
(b) calculate the maximum height of the stairs [3marks]

Answer : 415, 14000, 495
17. It is given that the first four terms of a geometric progression are 3, -6, 12 and x. Find the value of x.
[2marks]
[ ans -24 ]
18. The first three terms of an arithmetic progression are 46, 43 and 40. the nth term of this progression is
negative. Find the least value of n. [3marks]
[ans 17]
19. In a geometric progression, the first term is 4 and the common ratio is r. Given that the sum to infinity
of this progression is 16, find the value of r. [2marks]
[ ans : ]
20. Muthu started working for a company on 1 January 2002 with an initial annual salary of RM18,000.
Every January, the company increased his salary by 5% of the previous years salary. Calculate
(a) his annual salary, to the nearest RM, for the year 2007 [3marks]
(b) the minimum value of n such that his annual salary in the nth year will exceed RM36,000
[2marks]
(c) the total salary, to the nearest RM, paid to him by the company, for the years 2002 to 2007.
[2marks]
22