In this example, the maximum area is found by multiplying

the two upper bounds. The minimum area is found by

multiplying the two lower bounds.
Maximum area

Minimum area

The following rules help to decide which bounds to use

when doing combinations and calculations.

Operatio
n
Adding

Rule

Subtract
ing
Multiplyi
ng
Dividing
QQuestion
A = 34 cm to the nearest cm.
B = 11.2 cm to 1 decimal place.
C = 200 cm to 1 significant figure.
Calculate:
1. the upper bound for
2. the lower bound for
3. the lower bound for
4. the upper bound for

AHide answer
Upper bound of A = 34.5 cm
Lower bound of A = 33.5 cm
Upper bound of B = 11.25 cm
Lower bound of B = 11.15 cm
Upper bound of C = 250 cm
Lower bound of C = 150 cm
1. The upper bound of

2. The lower bound of

3. The lower bound of

4. The upper bound of

Sequences - Finding a Rule

To find a missing number in a Sequence, first we must have a Rule

Quick Definition of Sequence

Read Sequences and Series for a more in-depth discussion, but put simply:

A Sequence is a set of things (usually numbers) that are in

order.
Each number in the sequence is called a term (or sometimes "element" or
"member"):

Finding Missing Numbers

To find a missing number, first find a Rule behind the Sequence.
Sometimes we can just look at the numbers and see a pattern:

Example: 1, 4, 9, 16, ?

Answer: they are Squares (12=1, 22=4, 32=9, 42=16, ...)

Rule: xn = n2
Sequence: 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, ...
Did you see how we wrote that rule using "x" and "n" ?
xn means "term number n", so term 3 is written x3
And we also used "n" in the formula, so the formula for term 3 is 32 = 9. This
could be written

x 3 = 32 = 9
Once we have a Rule we can use it to find any term. For example, the 25th term
can be found by "plugging in" 25 wherever n is.

x25 = 252 = 625

How about another example:

Example: 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, ?

After 3 and 5 all the rest are the sum of the two numbers before, that is 3 + 5
= 8, 5 + 8 = 13 and so on (it is actually part of the Fibonacci Sequence ):

Rule: xn = xn-1 + xn-2

Sequence: 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, ...
Now what does xn-1 mean? It just means "the previous term" because the term
number (n) is 1 less (n-1).
So, if n was 6, then xn = x6 (the 6th term) and xn-1 = x6-1 = x5 (the 5th term)
So, let's apply that Rule to the 6th term:

x6 = x6-1 + x6-2
x6 = x 5 + x 4
We already know the 4th term is 13, and the 5th is 21, so the answer is:

x6 = 21 + 13 = 34
Pretty simple ... just put numbers instead of "n"

Many Rules
One of the troubles with finding "the next number" in a sequence is that
mathematics is so powerful we can find more than one Rule that works.

What is the next number in the sequence 1, 2, 4, 7, ?

Here are three solutions (there can be more!):

Solution 1: Add 1, then add 2, 3, 4, ...

So, 1+1=2, 2+2=4, 4+3=7, 7+4=11, etc...
Rule: xn = n(n-1)/2 + 1
Sequence: 1, 2, 4, 7, 11, 16, 22, ...
(That rule looks a bit complicated, but it works)

Solution 2: After 1 and 2, add the two previous numbers, plus

1:

Rule: xn = xn-1 + xn-2 + 1

Sequence: 1, 2, 4, 7, 12, 20, 33, ...

Solution 3: After 1, 2 and 4, add the three previous numbers

Rule: xn = xn-1 + xn-2 + xn-3
Sequence: 1, 2, 4, 7, 13, 24, 44, ...
So, we have three perfectly reasonable solutions, and they create totally
different sequences.
Which is right? They are all right.
And there are other solutions ...
... it may be a list of the winners' numbers ... so the next
number could be ... anything!

Simplest Rule
When in doubt choose the simplest rule that makes sense, but also mention
that there are other solutions.

Finding Differences
Sometimes it helps to find the differences between each pair of numbers ...
this can often reveal an underlying pattern.
Here is a simple case:

The differences are always 2, so we can guess that "2n" is part of the answer.
Let us try 2n:

n:

Terms (xn):

11

13

15

2n:

10

Wrong by:

The last row shows that we are always wrong by 5, so just add 5 and we are
done:

Rule: xn = 2n + 5
OK, we could have worked out "2n+5" by just playing around with the numbers
a bit, but we want asystematic way to do it, for when the sequences get more
complicated.

Second Differences
In the sequence {1, 2, 4, 7, 11, 16, 22, ...} we need to find the differences ...
... and then find the differences of those (called second differences), like this:

The second differences in this case are 1.

With second differences we multiply by "n2 / 2".

In our case the difference is 1, so let us try n2 / 2:

n:

Terms (xn):

11

n2:

16

25

n2 / 2:

0.5

4.5

12.5

Wrong by:

0.5

-0.5

-1

-1.5

We are close, but seem to be drifting by 0.5, so let us try: n2 / 2 - n/2

n2 / 2 - n/2:

10

Wrong by:

n2 / 2 - n/2 + 1:

11

Wrong by:

Wrong by 1 now, so let us add 1:

The formula n2 / 2 - n/2 + 1 can be simplified to n(n-1)/2 + 1

So by "trial-and-error" we discovered a rule that works:

Rule: xn = n(n-1)/2 + 1
Sequence: 1, 2, 4, 7, 11, 16, 22, 29, 37, ...

Geometric Sequences and Sums

Sequence
A Sequence is a set of things (usually numbers) that are in order.

Geometric Sequences
In a Geometric Sequence each term is found by multiplying the previous
term by a constant.

Example:
2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, ...
This sequence has a factor of 2 between each number.
Each term (except the first term) is found by multiplying the previous term
by 2.

In General we write a Geometric Sequence like this:

{a, ar, ar2, ar3, ... }

where:

a is the first term, and

r is the factor between the terms (called the "common ratio")

Example: {1,2,4,8,...}
The sequence starts at 1 and doubles each time, so

a=1 (the first term)

r=2 (the "common ratio" between terms is a doubling)

And we get:

{a, ar, ar2, ar3, ... }

= {1, 12, 122, 123, ... }
= {1, 2, 4, 8, ... }

But be careful, r should not be 0:

When r=0, we get the sequence {a,0,0,...} which is not geometric

The Rule
We can also calculate any term using the Rule:

xn = ar(n-1)
(We use "n-1" because

ar0 is for the 1st term)

Example:
10, 30, 90, 270, 810, 2430, ...
This sequence has a factor of 3 between each number.
The values of a and r are:

a = 10 (the first term)

r = 3 (the "common ratio")

The Rule for any term is:

xn = 10 3(n-1)
So, the 4th term is:

x4 = 103(4-1) = 1033 = 1027 = 270

And the 10th term is:

x10 = 103(10-1) = 1039 = 1019683 = 196830

A Geometric Sequence can also have smaller and smaller values:

Example:
4, 2, 1, 0.5, 0.25, ...
This sequence has a factor of 0.5 (a half) between each number.
Its Rule is xn = 4 (0.5)n-1