Sequences and Series

Sequence
A sequence is a function whose domain is the set
ℤ" = 1, 2, 3, … of positive integers and whose
range is the set ℝ of real numbers.

Notation:
*+ is the ,th term of a sequence
*+ denotes the sequence
 Sequence
Examples:
Find the first five terms and the 10th term of the
sequence.
1. #$ = 2' − 1
*+ ,
2. )$ = -,
3. /$ = 1 + 2 + 3 + ⋯ + '
4. 3$ = 23$*+ + 1, 35 = 0
 Sequence
Suppose that a newly-born pair of rabbits (one male
and one female) can reproduce another pair of
rabbits (one male and one female) at the end of two
months. Assuming that our rabbits do not die, how
many pairs of rabbits are there at the end of a year?

At the
end of
nth 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
month
Number
of pairs
of 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 ? ? ? ? ?
rabbits
 Fibonacci Sequence
Fibonacci sequence
!" = !"$% + !"$&
where
' ≥ 2, !+ = 1, !% = 1, and
!" is the 'th Fibonacci number

*This is an example of a recursive formula

 Arithmetic Sequence
A sequence is an arithmetic sequence if the
difference between two consecutive terms is a
constant.
The !th element of an arithmetic sequence is given
by
"# = "% + ! − 1 )
where
"# is the !th term of the sequence
"% is the 1st term of the sequence
) is the common difference
 Arithmetic Sequence
Examples:
An amphitheater has 30 rows of seats. There are 20seats in the first row,
22 seats in the second row, 24 seats in the third row, and so on. How many
seats are there in the 30th row?

Find the indicated unknown:

1. #$ = −3, ) = 2; #,
2. #- = 1, ) = −3; #.
3. #- = 10, #0 = 7; )
4. #$ = 5, #4 = 26; ), #$6
5. #$6 = 20, ) = −2; #$
6. #0 = 10, #7 = 13; ), #-6$4
7. Insert four arithmetic means between 5 and 6
 Geometric Sequence
A sequence is a geometric sequence if the quotient
between two consecutive terms is a constant.
The !th element of a geometric sequence is given by
"# = "% & #'%
where
"# is the !th term of the sequence
"% is the 1st term of the sequence
& is the common ratio
 Geometric Sequence
Examples:
A bacteria culture ini3ally has 5000 bacteria, and its size increases by 8%
every minute. About how many bacteria are present in the culture aAer
four minutes?

Find the indicated unknown:

1. #$ = 3, ( = 2; #+
2. #, = 6, ( = −3; #$
3. #$ = 5, #0 = 20; (
4. #, = 27, #4 = 8; (, #$
5. #$6 = 20, ( = −2; #,
6. #0 = 10, #4 = 20; (, #7
7. Insert three geometric means between 162 and 2
 Series
Given a sequence !" , the expression
!# + !% + !& + ⋯ + !" = ∑"*+# !*
is called a series.

Note:
A sequence is a list of numbers
A series is a sum of numbers
 Series
Examples:
Write each series in sigma notation.
1. 2 + 4 + 6 + ⋯ + 20
2. 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + ⋯ + 1024
, , ,
3. 1 − - + . − ⋯ + -,
4. 2 + 5 + 8 + ⋯ + 24
 Series
Examples:
Find the sum of the series.
1. ∑'$%& 3)
2. ∑,$%+ 2) − 1
3. ∑/$%. −1 $
' 1& 234 $
4. ∑$%&
+2
 Sigma Notation
Proper&es of Sigma Nota&on

1. ∑'$%& ( = *(, where ( is a constant

2. ∑'$%& (,$ = ( ∑'$%& ,$ , where ( is a constant

3. ∑'$%& ,$ + /$ = ∑'$%& ,$ + ∑'$%& /$

 Sigma Notation
Properties of Sigma Notation

4. ∑'$%& ($ − *$ = ∑'$%& ($ − ∑'$%& *$

5. ∑- (
$%& $ + ∑ '
(
$%-/& $ = ∑ '
$%& ($ , where 0 < 2

6. ∑'$%& ($/& − ($ = ('/& − (& (Telescoping sum)

 Sigma Notation
Examples:
Given that !" = 42 and ∑")'(" !' = 2018, use the
properties of the sigma notation to compute the
sum.
1. ∑")
'(" 5!'
2. ∑")
'("(!' − 2)
3. ∑")
'("(3 − 2!' )
"
4. ∑")
'(3 88 − 3 !'
 Sigma Notation
Some Summation Formulas
' '*&
1. ∑'$%& ( = +

' '*& +'*&

2. ∑'$%& ( + = -

'0 '*& 0
3. ∑'$%& ( / = 1

&3'4*&5'6*-'07'
4. ∑'$%& ( 1 = /5
 Arithmetic Series
A series whose terms form an arithme/c sequence is
called an arithme(c series.

If !" is the sum of the first # terms of an arithme/c

series with first term $% , last term $" , and common
difference &, then
" "
!" = (
2$% + # − 1 & = (
$% + $" .
 Arithmetic Series
Examples:
Find the sum of the first ! terms of an arithmetic
series with the given conditions.

1. ! = 10, '( = 16, * = 3

2. ! = 15, '( = −8, '(0 = 20
3. ! = 30, '1 = 20, '0 = 5
4. ! = 17, '(4 = 200, * = 18
 Geometric Series
A series whose terms form a geometric sequence is
called an geometric series.

If !" is the sum of the first # terms of a geometric series

with first"term $, and common ratio %, then
!" = ' $% (+* = $ + $% + $% - + $% . + ⋯ + $% "+*
()*

#$, % = 1
= 03 *+4 5
, %≠1
*+4
 Geometric Series
Examples:
Find the sum of the first ! terms of a geometric
series with the given conditions.

)
1. ! = 5, ' = 1, ( = *
-
2. ! = 6, ' = ) , ( = 1
3. ! = 4, ') = 20, '* = 5
4. ! = 6, ' = 12, '1 = 5.0625
Infinite Geometric Series

! = # + #% + #% & + ⋯

)
, −1 < % < 1
=( *+,
no sum, % ≤ −1 or % ≥ 1
 Infinite Geometric Series
Examples:
Find the sum (if it exists) of the given infinite
geometric series.

$ $ $
1. 1 + % + & + ' + ⋯
2. 6 + 18 + 54 + 162 + ⋯
3. 12 − 18 + 27 − 40.5 + ⋯
2 $ $ %
4. − & + % − 2 + 3 − ⋯
 Infinite Geometric Series
Examples:
1. Express 0.666$ … as a fraction.
2. Express 2.818181 … as a fraction.
3. A ball is dropped from a height of 12 m. Each time it
strikes the ground it bounces back to a height of three-
fourths of the distance from which it fell. Determine the
total distance traveled by the ball before it comes to rest.
4. An equilateral triangle has sides of length 4 units. Another
equilateral triangle is constructed by drawing line
segments through the midpoints of the sides of the first
triangle. This triangle has sides of length 2 units. If this
procedure can be repeated an unlimited number of times,
what is the total perimeter of all the triangles that are
formed?