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

Problem 6:
Find the sum of the first 50 even positive integers.

Solution to Problem 6:
 The sequence of the first 50 even positive integers is given by

2 , 4 , 6 , ...

The above sequence has a first term equal to 2 and a common difference d = 2. We use
the n th term formula to find the 50 th term

a50 = 2 + 2 (50 - 1) = 100

We now the first term and last term and the number of terms in the sequence, we now
find the sum of the first 50 terms

s50 = 50 (2 + 100) / 2 = 2550

Problem 7:
Find the sum of all positive integers, from 5 to 1555 inclusive, that are divisible by 5.

Solution to Problem 7:

The first few terms of a sequence of positive integers divisible by 5 is given by

5 , 10 , 15 , ...

The above sequence has a first term equal to 5 and a common difference d = 5. We need
to know the rank of the term 1555. We use the formula for the n th term as follows

1555 = a1 + (n - 1 )d

Substitute a1 and d by their values

1555 = 5 + 5(n - 1 )

Solve for n to obtain

n = 311

We now know that 1555 is the 311 th term, we can use the formula for the sum as follows

s311 = 311 (5 + 1555) / 2 = 242580

Problem 8:
Find the sum S defined by

10
S = (2n + 1 / 2)
n=1

Solution to Problem 8:

Let us first decompose this sum as follows

10
 S = (2n + 1 / 2)
n=1
10 10
= 2 n + (1 / 2)
i=1 n=1

The term n is the sum of the first 10 positive integers. The 10 first positive integers
make an arirhmetic sequence with first term equal to 1, it has n = 10 terms and its 10 th
term is equal to 10. This sum is obtained using the formula sn = n (a1 + an) / 2 as follows

10(1+10)/2 = 55

The term (1 / 2) is the addition of a constant term 10 times and is given by

10(1/2) = 5

The sum S is given by

S = 2(55) + 5 = 115

Exercises:
Answer the following questions related to arithmetic sequences:

a) Find a20 given that a3 = 9 and a8 = 24

b) Find a30 given that the first few terms of an arithmetic sequence are given by 6,12,18,...

c) Find d given that a1 = 10 and a20 = 466

d) Find s30 given that a10 = 28 and a20 = 58

e) Find the sum S defined by

20
S = (3n - 1 / 2)
n=1

f) Find the sum S defined by

20 40
S = 0.2 n + 0.4 j
n=1 j=21
Solutions to Above Exercises:

a) a20 = 60

b) a30 = 180

c) d = 24

d) s30 = 1335
e) 1380

f) 286

rade 10 - Arithmetic-Progressions
(Sample Printed worksheet)

Answer The Following

Which term of the arithmetic progression 10, 16, 22, 28 is 190?
1)

A sequence of numbers that are in arithmetic progression starts with 3 and ends with 204.
What is the sum of the 19th term from the beginning of the sequence and the 19th term from
2)
the end of the sequence?

What is the sum of all two-digit odd positive numbers?

3)

What is the middle term of the arithmetic progression 6, 17, 28,...,446?

4)

Which term will be the first negative term in the arithmetic progression 133, 125, 117,...?
5)

Choose correct answer(s) from given choice

Which is the 14th term from the end of the arithmetic progression 7, 24, 41,...,704?
a. 483 b. 466
6)
c. 517 d. 500

How many terms of the arithmetic progression 8, 22, 36, 50 have to be added to get the sum
14220?

7) a. 44 b. 48
c. 45 d. 46

The sum of the first three terms of an AP is 165, and the sum of the next three terms is 309.
What is the value of the 10th term?
8) a. 183 b. 167
c. 231 d. 151

In an arithmetic progression, the value of the 18th element is

1
20
, and the value of 20th element is
9) 1
18
. What is the value of 360th element?
a. -3 b. -2
c. 3 d. 1
 What is the difference between the 35th element and 15th element in the arithmetic
progression 10, 1, -8, -17?
10) a. -171 b. -198
c. -162 d. -180

Answers
1) 31
Step 1
From given arithmetic progressions, we can infer that difference between consecutive terms is 6
and first term is 10
Step 2
Lets assume 190 is nth term. Therefore,
Tn = T1 + (n - 1 ) d
190 = 10 + (n - 1 ) (6)
n - 1 = (190 - 10)/(6)
n - 1 = 30
n = 30 + 1 = 31

2) 207

3) 2475
Step 1
We know that smallest two digit odd number is 11, and greatest two digit number is 99
Step 2
Since difference between consecutive odd numbers is 2, these numbers form an arithmetic
progression with first term = 11, last term = 99 and difference = 2
Step 3
If there are total N terms in series, Nth term is given by
TN = T1 + (N-1)d
99 = 11 + (N-1)(2)
2(N - 1) = 99 - 11
2(N - 1) = 88
N - 1 = 88/2
N = 44 + 1
N = 45
Step 4
Now sum of arithmetic progression can be found using standard formula,
SN = (N/2)[T1 + (N-1)d] SN = (N/2)[2T1 + (N-1)d]
SN = (45/2)[211 + (45-1)(2)]
SN = (45/2)[22 + 88]
SN = (45/2)[110]
SN = 45 55
SN = 2475

4) 226
Step 1
If nth term is the middle term, there will be 2n+1 terms in the series
Step 2
The difference between nth term and first term will be same as the difference between last terms
and nth term
Step 3
So if nth term is x, first term will be x - and last term will be x +
Step 4
We can see that x is middle point (or average) of first and last term. i.e.,
x = [( x - ) + (x + ) ]/2
x = [ 6 + 446 ]/2
x = 226

5) 18th term (-3)

Step 1
If d is the difference between consecutive terms, nth term is
Tn = T1 + (n-1)d
Step 2
Now we need to find the least value of n, for which Tn is negative
Tn < 0
T1 + (n-1)d < 0
133 + (n-1)(-8) < 0
(n-1) > 133/8
(n-1) > 16.63
n > 16.63+1
n > 17.63
Step 3
Therefore n should be 18, and 18th term will be the first negative term.

6) a. 483
Step 1
Given arithmetic progression is 7, 24, 41,...,704
Step 2
If we reverse order of arithmetic progression, the resultant series is also an arithmetic
progression. Therefore 704, ..., 41, 24, 7 is also an arithmetic progression with difference d = 17
Step 3
The nth term if arithmetic progression is,
Tn = T1 + (n - 1)d
Step 4
Therefore 14th term of reverse arithmetic progression will be,
T14 = 704 + (14 - 1)(17)
T14 = 704 + (221)
T14 = 483

7) c. 45
8) a. 183
9) d. 1
10) d. -180
Step 1
If you inspect this series, you will find that difference between consecutive terms is -9
Step 2
First term of the series is 10, therefore nth term of this arithmetic progression will be,
Tn = T1 + (n-1) d
Step 3
Therefore difference between nth and mth term will be,
Tn - Tm = [T1 + (n-1) d] - [[T1 + (m-1) d]]
Tn - Tm = (n-m) d]
T35 - T15 = (35-15)(-9)
T35 - T15 = -180