Arithmetic Sequence

sn = n (a1 + an) / 2
Problem 1:
The first term of an arithmetic sequence is equal to 6 and the common difference is equal to 3. Find a formula for the
n th term and the value of the 50 th term
Solution to Problem 1:

Use the value of the common difference d = 3 and the first term a1 = 6 in the formula for the n th term given
above
an = a1 + (n - 1 )d
= 6 + 3 (n - 1)
=3n+3

The 50 th term is found by setting n = 50 in the above formula.

a50 = 3 (50) + 3 = 153

Problem 2:
The first term of an arithmetic sequence is equal to 200 and the common difference is equal to
-10. Find the value of the 20 th term
Solution to Problem 2:

Use the value of the common difference d = -10 and the first term a1 = 200 in the formula for the n th term
given above and then apply it to the 20 th term
a20 = 200 + (-10) (20 - 1 ) = 10

Problem 3:
An arithmetic sequence has a common difference equal to 10 and its 6 th term is equal to 52. Find its 15 th term.
Solution to Problem 3:

We use the n th term formula for the 6 th term, which is known, to write
a6 = 52 = a1 + 10 (6 - 1 )

The above equation allows us to calculate a1.

a1 = 2

Now that we know the first term and the common difference, we use the n th term formula to find the 15 th
term as follows.

a15 = 2 + 10 (15 - 1) = 142

Problem 4:
An arithmetic sequence has a its 5 th term equal to 22 and its 15 th term equal to 62. Find its 100 th term.
Solution to Problem 4:

We use the n th term formula for the 5 th and 15 th terms to write

a5 = a1 + (5 - 1 ) d = 22
a15 = a1 + (15 - 1 ) d = 62

We obtain a system of 2 linear equations where the unknown are a1 and d. Subtract the right and left term of
the two equations to obtain
62 - 22 = 14 d - 4 d

Solve for d.
d=4

Now use the value of d in one of the equations to find a1.

a1 + (5 - 1 ) 4 = 22

Solve for a1 to obtain.

a1 = 6

Now that we have calculated a1 and d we use them in the n th term formula to find the 100 th formula.
a100 = 6 + 4 (100 - 1 )= 402

Problem 5:
Find the sum of all the integers from 1 to 1000.
Solution to Problem 5:

The sequence of integers starting from 1 to 1000 is given by

1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , ... , 1000

The above sequence has 1000 terms. The first term is 1 and the last term is 1000 and the common
difference is equal to 1. We have the formula that gives the sum of the first n terms of an arithmetic
sequence knowing the first and last term of the sequence and the number of terms (see formula above).
s1000 = 1000 (1 + 1000) / 2 = 500500

Geometric Sequence
Problem 1:
Find the terms a2, a3, a4 and a5 of a geometric sequence if a1 = 10 and the common ratio r = - 1.
Solution to Problem 1:

Use the definition of a geometric sequence

a2 = a1 * r = 10 * (-1) = - 10
a3 = a2 * r = - 10 * (-1) = 10
a4 = a3 * r = 10 * (-1) = - 10
a5 = a4 * r = - 10 * (-1) = 10

Problem 2:
Find the 10 th term of a geometric sequence if a1 = 45 and the common ration r = 0.2.
Solution to Problem 2:

Use the formula an = a1 * rn-1 that gives the n th term to find a10 as follows
a10 = a1 * rn-1
= 45 * 0.29 = 2.304 * 10-5

Problem 3:
Find a20 of a geometric sequence if the first few terms of the sequence are given by

-1/2 , 1/4 , -1/8 , 1 / 16 , ...

Solution to Problem 3:

We first use the first few terms to find the common ratio
r = a2 / a1 = (1/4) / (-1/2) = -1/2
r = a3 / a2 = (-1/8) / (1/4) = -1/2
r = a4 / a3 = (1/16) / (-1/8) = -1/2

The common ration r = -1/2. We now use the formula an = a1 * rn-1 for the n th term to find a20 as follows.
a20 = a1 * r20-1
= (-1/2) * (-1/2)20-1 = 1 / (2020)

Problem 4:
Given the terms a10 = 3 / 512 and a15 = 3 / 16384 of a geometric sequence, find the exact value of the term a30 of the
sequence.
Solution to Problem 4:

We first use the formula for the n th term to write a10 and a15 as follows
a10 = a1 * r10-1 = 3 / 512
a15 = a1 * r15-1 = 3 / 16384

We now divide the terms a10 and a15 to write

a15 / a10 = (a1 * r14 / a1 * r9) = (3 / 16384) / (3 / 512)

Solve for r to obtain.

r5 = 1 / 32 which gives r = 1/2

We now use a10 to find a1 as follows.

a10 = 3 / 512 = a1(1/2)9

Solve for a1 to obtain.

a1 = 3

We now use the formula for the n th term to find a30 as follows.
a30 = 3(1/2)29 = 3 / 536870912

Problem 5:
Find the sum

6
S = 3k-1
k=1

Solution to Problem 5:

We first rewrite the sum S as follows

S = 1 + 3 + 9 + 27 + 81 + 243 = 364

Another method is to first note that the terms making the sum are those of an arithmetic sequence with a 1 =
1 and r = 3 using the formula sn = a1 (1 - rn) / (1 - r) with n = 6.
s6 = 1 (1 - 36) / (1 - 3) = 364