What I Need to Know

This module is designed to help you learn and master how to solve problems
on sequences. Some problems related to real-life situation are purposely included in
various activities for you to learn it meaningfully and be able to apply the concept in
practical living. The lessons and activities are arranged to cater your needs in
different situations following the standard sequence of the course.

The module is divided into four lessons, namely:

Lesson 1 – Problems on Arithmetic Sequences
Lesson 2 – Problems on Geometric
Lesson 3 – Problems o Harmonic Sequence
Lesson 4 – Problems on Fibonacci Sequence

Competency:
After going through this module, you are expected to solve problems involving
sequences (M10AL-If-2).

Subtasks: 1. differentiate arithmetic, harmonic, geometric and Fibonacci sequences;

2. apply specific rule and solve problems on arithmetic, geometric,
harmonic and Fibonacci sequences; and
3. explain the processes in solving problems involving sequences.

.
 What I Know

Find out how much you already knew about the lessons in this module.
Choose the letter of the best answer. Take note of the problems you failed to answer
and find the right answer as you get through with all the discussions presented.

1. Which of the following is the 25 th term of the sequence whose first term is 9
and the 7th term is 39?

A. 124 B. 129 C. 134 D. 139

2. What term of a geometric sequence is –11 264 if the second term is 44 and
the third term is –176?

A. 5th term B. 6th term C. 7th term D. 8th term

3. What must be the next term of the sequence ?

A. 1 741 B. 1 9 63 C. 2 029 D. 2 584

4. Which of the following is a harmonic sequence?

A. C.

B. D.

5. What is the equivalent fraction of ?

A. B. C. D.

6. To practice social and physical distancing due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the
students inside the classroom are arranged alternately as shown in the given
illustration below. The classroom can only accommodate four rows with at
most 6 seats per row. If 5 seats are placed in the first row, how many seats
are available in the fourth row and how many students can use the classroom
in every session?

A. 5 seats, 20 students
B. 6 seats, 20 students
1
 C. 5 seats, 22 students
D. 6 seats, 22 students

7. A stack of oranges has 10 layers with 100 oranges at the bottom layer. There
are 81 oranges in the second layer and 64 oranges in the third layer. If the
pattern continues, how many oranges are there in the eighth layer?

A. 9 B. 13 C. 16 D. 20

8. The sum of measures of the interior angles in a polygon takes an array. The
sum of the interior angles of a triangle is 180, of a quadrilateral is 360, and of
a pentagon is 540. What is the sum of the interior angles of an icosagon?

A. 2 700 B. 2 880 C. 3 060 D. 3 240

9. A ball bounces up and down when it is dropped from a height of 12 meters.

Each rebound reaches the distance it just came down. How high does the
ball reach on its third rebound?

A. meters B. meters C. meters D. 9 meters

10. A certain kind of virus is believed to double its number every hour. How many
viruses will there be after 5 hours if there are initially 1000 viruses present?

A. 16 000 B. 32 000 C. 64 000 D. 128 000

11. Suppose Maria must eat one kind of fruit on the first day of January, two kinds
on the second, 3 kinds on the third day, and so on. How many kinds of fruit
will she need until the twelfth day?

A. 75 B. 76 C. 77 D. 78

12. A certain radioactive substance has a half-life of 2.4 minutes. If 120 g of this
substance is found at the beginning of an experiment, how much were left
after 36 minutes?

A. 0.00366211 g C. 0.01464844 g
B. 0.00732422 g D. 0.02929689 g

13. If the bus travels at 80 kph and back along the same route at 60 kph. What is
the average rate of speed for the entire trip?

A. 65 kph B. 68.57 kph C. 70 kph D. 74.42 kph

14. A male bee is one of the many amazing creations. Unlike a female bee that
has both a mother and a father, a male bee is born with only one parent, his
mother. Starting off with a male bee, how many bees are there in its fifth
generation?

A. 5 B. 8 C. 13 D. 21

2
 15. A farmer has 10 baskets used in collecting chicken eggs from his poultry
house. He placed one egg in the first basket, 2 eggs in the second, four eggs
in the third. If he continues to put eggs on the next baskets in such a way that
each has twice the number of eggs as the basket before it, then how many
eggs do the farmer collect?

Note: You may skip this module if you got 13 out of 15 correct answers.
However, you may study the lessons if you missed some items.

Problems on
Lesson Arithmetic Sequences
1
What I Need to Know

At the end of the lesson, the learner should be able to:

1. identify an arithmetic sequence;

2. describe an arithmetic sequence;

3. use the rule of an arithmetic sequence in solving related problems; and

4. apply the concept of arithmetic sequences in doing practical tasks.

What I Know

Read, analyze and solve each problem. Show your solutions clearly and neatly.

1. A snail is crawling towards the riverbank. If it moves 2.3 units per minute, how
long will it take for the snail to reach the riverbank that is 43.7 units from where it
started?
2. Shen borrowed Ᵽ8,000 at 7.5% simple interest rate for 5 years. How much is the
interest she has to pay at the end of the term?

3
3. How long will Ᵽ10,000 accumulate to Ᵽ13,000 when invested at 10% annual
simple interest?
4. A runner runs at a constant rapidity of one hundred meters in 9.15 seconds. How
far will he cover in 82.35 seconds?
5. Five friends are having fun while playing with numbers. Vins, Cris, Lina, Mat and
Joy arranged themselves in a row as the first, the second, the third, the fourth
and the fifth players. The mechanics of the game is to constantly add two to the
number stated by the preceding player. The first one to give the biggest two-digit
number wins. If Vins gives the number 25, what is the biggest two-digit number in
the sequence and who will become the winner?

Note: You may skip this lesson if you got 4 out of 5 correct answers. However,
you may continue studying this lesson if you missed some items.

What’s In

Supply the missing term. Describe how each number in the set is identified.

1. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, ___

2. 1, 4, 9, 16, ___, 36, 49
3. 1, 2, 4, 7, 11, 16, ___, 29
4. 1, 2.5, 6.25, 15.625, ___
5. 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, ___, 89

Study the given solutions and discussions below.

1. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, ___
The missing term is 15. Each number that proceeds after the first is found by
adding a constant 2 its preceding number or term.

2. 1, 4, 9, 16, ___, 36, 49

The missing term is 25. The set is composed of the squares of the first seven
counting numbers.

3. 1, 2, 4, 7, 11, 16, ___, 29

4
 The missing term is 22. The second term, 2, is obtained by adding the preceding
term by 1. The third term, 4, is found by adding its preceding term by 2. The fourth
term, 7, is the sum of its preceding term and 3, and so on. So, the missing term is
derived by adding its preceding term by 6, that is, 16 + 6 = 22.

4. 1, 2.5, 6.25, 15.625, ___

The missing term is 39.0625. Each term after the first is obtained by multiplying
the term before it by 2.5.

5. 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, ___, 89

The missing term is 55 which is the sum of its two preceding terms, 21 and 34.
Each term after the first is found through the same process.

What’s New

Let’s explore

Situation A

Lisa loves walking as a form of exercise to stay healthy and fit. She spent 15
minutes on her first week of doing the routine. Each week thereafter, she added 5
minutes to her walking time.

1. Complete the table.

Week 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Time

2. Did you observe any pattern? How did you obtain the time values?
3. What kind of sequence is formed by the time values? Why?
4. What was Lisa’s walking time on the 10 th week? Can you think of another way to
get the same walking time?
5. What should be Lisa’s walking time on the 20 th week?
6. What is the total number of minutes spent by Lisa in walking since Week 1 to
Week 10? How did you obtain the value?

Study the following solutions and discussions:

1. Complete the table.

5
 Week Walking Time Spent Discussion
No.
1 15 Given
2 Liza added 5 minutes after each
3 week of walking.
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
2. Did you observe any pattern? How did you obtain the time values?

Notice that each time value after the first week is obtained by adding 5 to the
time value of its preceding week. Hence, the pattern is by adding 5.

3. What kind of sequence is formed by the time values? Why?

Lisa’s walking time formed the sequence 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55,
60. Since each term after the first is obtained by constantly adding 5 to the preceding
term, the sequence is called an arithmetic sequence.

4. What was Lisa’s walking time on the 10 th week? Can you think of another way to
get the same walking time?

Week 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Time 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60

The table shows that Liza’s walking time in the 10 th week is 60 minutes. Recall
that the time that Liza spent while walking in the 10 th week can also be found using
the general formula for arithmetic sequence. Take note that the nth term of an

arithmetic sequence is given by the rule, , where is the nth

term, is the first term, is the number of terms, and is the common difference.

Using the rule, the time that Liza spent on her 10 th walking week is given by:

Steps Expression/Equation Discussion

1. What is asked? Find the 10th week walking time of Liza
which is the value of .
th
2. What are given? To find the 10 week walking time of

6
 Liza or , the rule needs the values for
, , and .
3. What is the needed The general formula for arithmetic
rule? sequence is .
4. What is the Substitute the values for , , and in
solution?
the rule, where
, and .

Perform the indicated operation by

multiplying 9 and 5 to get 45.

Add 15 and 45 to get 60.

Therefore, Liza spent 60 minutes on her

10th walking week.

By the rule, Liza spent one hour during her 10 th week of walking exercise.
5. What should be Lisa’s walking time on the 20 th week?

During the 20th week, the time that Liza spent in walking is shown below:

Steps Expression/Equation Discussion

1. What is asked? Find or the 20th week walking
time of Liza.
2. What are given? To find the 20th week walking time of
Liza or , the rule needs the values
for , , and , where ,
and .
3. What is the needed The general formula for arithmetic
rule? sequence is
.
4. What is the solution? Substitute the values for , , and
in the rule, where ,
and .

Subtract 20 and 1 to get 19.

Perform the indicated operation by
multiplying 19 and 5 to get 95.
Add 15 and 95. Thus, Liza spent 110
minutes on her 20th walking week.

By the rule, Liza spent 1 hour and 50 minutes in walking during the 20 th week.

6. What is the total number of minutes spent by Lisa in walking since Week 1 to
Week 10? How did you obtain the value?

7
 The total time spent by Liza from Week 1 to Week 10 of doing the walking
exercise can be found by simply adding the weekly time elapsed.

Week Walking Time Spent Discussion

No.
1 15 Given
2 Liza added 5 minutes after each
3 week of walking.
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Thus, the total walking time spent
Total 375 by Liza from Week 1 to week 10 is
375 minutes.

However, the addition process is good only for a sequence with a limited
number of terms. When dealing with sequences involving many terms, adding all the
terms becomes more tedious. Hence, a rule is derived. The sum of the first n terms

of an arithmetic sequence, denoted by , is given by,

or its alternative
Substitute for .

. Simplify by combining like terms.

Take note that the alternative formula is useful when is not known.

Do you get the given examples? If yes, try to consider how to use the formula
to get the sum of the first n terms of an arithmetic sequence by looking at the
solutions on the next page.

For you to sum up the time that Lisa spent in walking for 10 weeks, we have:

Steps Expression/Equation Discussion

1. What is asked? Find or the total time elapsed for
Liza’s walking exercise from Week 1 to
8
 Week 10.
2. What are given? , To rule needs the values for , ,
and .
3. What is the needed The general formula for the sum of the
rule? first n terms of an arithmetic sequence
where both and are known is

.
4. What is the solution? Substitute the values for , , and
in the rule, where ,
and .

Add 15 and 60 to get 75.

Divide 10 by 2 and multiply the

quotient by 75.

Liza had spent 375 minutes for 10

consecutive weeks.

How about the alternative formula?

The alternative formula also applies since the values for , and are also

known. By that formula,

Steps Expression/Equation Discussion

1. What is asked? Find as the total time elapsed

for Liza’s walking exercise from
Week 1 to Week 10.
2. What are given? To rule needs the values for ,
, and .
3. What is the The general formula for the sum
needed rule? of the first n terms of an
arithmetic sequence where both
is unknown is

.
4. What is the Substitute the values for , ,
solution?
and in the rule where ,

and .

Simplify the innermost operation

9
 in the grouping symbols by
getting the difference of 10 and 1
to get 9.

Perform the indicated operation

inside the grouping symbols by
multiplying 2 and 15 to get 30,
and 9 and 5 to get 45.

Add 30 and 45.

Multiply 10 by 75 to get 750 and

divide this product by 2.

Therefore, Lisa spent 375 minutes since the 1st until the 10th week of doing the
walking exercise.

If you have difficulty in understanding the concepts presented, examine again

the given examples or let me know. If you get it, then study Situation B.

Situation B

A vendor has sold 100 kg of fruits on the first day, 250 kg on the second and
400 kg on the third. Suppose that the increase of the vendor’s sale is consistent,

1. In what day will he be able to vend 1,000 kg of fruits?

2. If the vendor gains ₱10 for every kilogram of fruits being sold, how much is his
monthly income?
Consider the following solutions and discussions:

1. In what day will he be able to vend 1,000 kg of fruits?

The daily sale of the fruit vendor for three consecutive days is as follows:

Day 1 2 3
Sale 100 250 400

Notice that his sale’s increase is constantly 150 kg daily. This means that his
next sale can be obtained by simply adding the constant increase to the preceding
sale. Hence, the vendor’s sales formed an arithmetic sequence with the common
difference of 150 kg.
By observing the same pattern, the vendor is expected to sell 1000 kg on the
7th day as shown below:

10
 Day 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Sale 100 250 400 550 700 850 1 000

Another way to find out when will the vendor be able to vend 1,000 kg, the nth
rule of an arithmetic sequence applies, that is:
Steps Figure/Expression/Equa Discussion
tion
1. What is asked? You need to find out the value for
or that day when the vendor will
be able to sell 1 000 kg of fruits.
2. What are given? To find the value of
the rule needs the values for ,
0 , and .
3. What is the needed The general formula for arithmetic
rule? sequence is
.
4. What is the solution? Substitute the values for , ,
and in the rule, where
, and
0.

Apply the distributive property

Apply the Addition Property of

Equality.

Apply the Multiplication Property

of Equality.

Thus, the vendor has sold 1,000 kg of fruits during the 7 th day.
2. If the vendor gains ₱10 for every kilogram of fruits being sold, how much is his
monthly income?
The vendor’s monthly income is determined by the number of kilograms of
fruits he will be able to sell for a month. And in order to get this, the rule for the sum
of the first n terms of the arithmetic sequence applies. That is:

Steps Figure/Expression/Equation Discussion

1. What is asked? Find the total sale of the vendor
for one month or 30 days
denoted by .

2. What are given? , The rule needs the values for ,

11
 , and .

3. What is the The general formula for the sum

needed rule? of the first n terms of arithmetic
sequence is
.

4. What is the Substitute the values for , ,

solution?
and in the rule, where
, and .

Simplify numerical expression

by multiplying 29 and 150.

Add 200 and 4 350 to get 4 550.

Perform the required operation

by dividing 30 by 2 to get 15.
Then, multiply 15 and 4 550 to
obtain 68 250.
The total monthly sale of the
vendor is 68 250 kg of fruits

If the vendor gains ₱10 per kilogram of fruits, then his monthly
income will be

Apply dimensional analysis

using the equivalent of ₱10 gain
for every kilogram of fruits.

The vendor will earn as much as in one month by selling fruits.

Let’s try this

Follow the steps in solving the following problems.

1. Tina is fond of watching drama series. She finishes three episodes on Monday, 6
episodes on Tuesday, and 9 episodes on Wednesday. If the practice continues
every day, when will she be watching the final episode if there are only 30
episodes?

12
2. At six o’clock in the morning of the Holy Friday, 28 local tourists arrived in
Camiguin for penitence. Every hour thereafter, 32 more people joined the activity.
How many people were there at noontime?
3. The school has 20 computer sets in 2010. If the number increases by 10 after
every three years, in what particular year will the number of computer sets be
tripled?
4. Ms. JC does flower collection. She starts with only 16 varieties. If she gathers 3
more varieties than the previous day, how many varieties of flowers does she
collect in 14 days?
5. Cena was a writer. Being a neophyte in the craft, she only wrote 2 novels in 2015.
With her passion, she became better after each year. In 2019, she already
produced 18 novels. How many novels are equally added every year since 2015
to 2019?

What Is It

As what you have learned before, a sequence is a series of numbers in a

definite order and specific connection. Each number is called a term. When each
term after the first is obtained by adding a nonzero constant, the sequence is an
arithmetic sequence. The nonzero constant is called the common difference.

Recall that the general formula for arithmetic sequence is defined by

where is the nth term, is the first term, is the number of terms, and is the

common difference. This rule applies when finding the 1 st and the nth terms, the
number of terms, the arithmetic means and the common difference.

Remember also that the sum of the first n terms of an arithmetic sequence is

defined by the formula where is the sum of the first n terms, is

the number of terms, is the first term and is the nth term. This formula is very

13
much useful when both the first and the nth terms are known. Its alternate,

, is used when the last term of the sequence is not given.

Take note that problems related to arithmetic sequences are dealt with the
use of these two rules, the general formula and the sum of the first n terms of the
arithmetic sequence.

Example 1. Empty cans are arranged in layers in such a way the number of
empty cans gradually decreases by 1 after each layer. If the
bottom layer has ten empty cans, how many empty cans are
stacked up to the 10th layer?

Study this solution.

Steps Expression/Equation Discussion

1. What is asked? You are required to find out the

total number of cans from the
first to the 10th layer or .
2. What are given? , , To find , rule needs the
values for , , and .
3. What is the The sum of the first n terms of
needed rule? an arithmetic sequence when
is not known is given by the

rule .
4. What is the Substitute the values for , ,
solution?
and in the rule, where
, and .

Simplify numerical expression

inside the grouping symbols by
getting the difference of 10 and
1 which gives 9 and multiplying
this result by –1 to get –9.
Also, multiply 2 and 10 to get
20.

Add 20 and –9 to get 11.

Divide 10 by 2 to get 5 and

14
 multiply this result by 11 to
obtain 55. Thus, there are 55
empty cans that are stacked in
ten layers.

Example 2. Consider the problem given in Example 1, how many cans are in
the tenth layer?

Study this solution.

Steps Expression/Equation Discussion

1. What is asked? You are asked to find the number of
cans in the tenth layer.
2. What are given? To find the number of cans in the 10th
layer, you need the values for , , and
.

3. What is the The general formula for arithmetic

needed rule? sequence is .
4. What is the Substitute the values for , , and in
solution?
the rule, where , and
.

Subtract 10 and 1 to get 9.

Multiply 9 and –1 to get –9.

Add 10 and –9 to get 1.

Thus, there is only 1 can in the tenth

layer.

What’s More

Guided/Controlled Practice Exercise 1

Directions: Form a group of three and do the following problems. Show your
solutions.

1. Ara buys a piglet and raises it in the backyard. In a month, the piglet weighs 18
kg. A buyer comes on the fourth month when it already weighs 54 kg. If the pig’s
growth is constant per month, how heavy is it by the time Ara purchased it?

15
2. Bong’s mother wanted to give him a special gift on his 21 st birthday. Because of
this, she started saving ₱500 on his first birthday, added ₱1,000 on the second
birthday and deposited ₱1,500 on the third birthday. With the same amount of
increase, how much will be the cost of Bong’s gift on his 21 st birthday?

Guided/Controlled Practice Exercise 2

Directions: Look for a partner and answer Problems 5-8. Show your solutions.

1. Rean gets a job with a starting monthly salary of ₱20,000. She is promised by
her employer to receive a monthly increase of ₱1,725 each year. How much will
her annual salary be after 10 years?
2. A kilogram of rice is mixed with 7.5 cups of water during cooking. How many
cups of water are needed to cook 5.5 kg of rice?

Independent Practice Exercise 1

Directions: Answer the following problems individually. Show your solutions.

1. A store owner preferred a pyramid display of canned sardines. The bottom layer
has 15 cans, the second layer has 14 cans, and the third has 13 cans. If the
pattern continues, in what layer where there will only be 1 can of sardines? How
many cans of sardines are there in the array?
2. Gina planted a variety of vegetables in her triangular garden. The first row of
which has 31 plants, the second row has 28, the third row has 25, and so on.
How many plants are planted in the 8 th row? In what row where there will only be
1 plant? How many plants are there in the field?

What I Have Learned

Directions: Solve each problem below. Show your solutions.

1. A mountain climber wishes to reach the peak of a high mountain standing 1 050
meters tall. He started climbing early in the morning. After one hour, he covers
300 meters. But because of the mountain’s inclination, his movement becomes
slower and decreases by 25 meters after every hour. How long will he step on
the top of the mountain and fulfill his wish?
2. Suppose the number of births in the country increases by 150 per hour. How
many babies were there at the beginning when the number triples after 4 hours?

16
3. The age gap among three siblings is 5 years. The sum of their ages is 66. How
old is the oldest five years later?
4. A motorcycle rider travels at 45 kph. At a constant speed, how long will he reach
900 km?
5. In the song, Twelve Days of Christmas, her true love gave her one gift on the first
day, 2 gifts on the second, three gifts on the third, and so on. How many gifts did
she receive?

What I Can Do

Make use of the concept you learned on arithmetic sequence in giving the
answer to the given situation.

Cellphone Anyone?

Gina is a Grade 10 student who likes to buy a smart phone that costs ₱8,000.
She only has ₱5,750 in hand which means that she will still be saving part of her
weekly allowance of ₱500. If you were Gina, how will you apply the concept on
arithmetic sequence and be able to buy that smart phone after 12 weeks?

Assessment

Guided Assessment

Directions: Read, analyze and solve each problem. Show your solutions clearly
and neatly.

1. A snail is crawling towards the riverbank. If it moves 3.5 units per minute, how
long will it take for the snail to reach the riverbank that is 45.5 units from where it
started?
2. Shen borrowed Ᵽ8,000 at 7.5% simple interest rate for 5 years. How much is the
maturity value of the credit?
3. How long will Ᵽ12,000 accumulate to Ᵽ23,520 when invested at 12% annual
simple interest?

17
Independent Assessment

Directions: Read, analyze and solve each problem. Show your solutions clearly
and neatly.

4. A runner runs at a constant rapidity of one hundred meters in 7.5 seconds. How
far will he cover in one and one-half hours?
5. Five friends are having fun while playing with numbers. Vins, Cris, Lina, Mat and
Joy arranged themselves in a row as the first, the second, the third, the fourth
and the fifth players. The mechanics of the game is to constantly add four to the
number stated by the preceding player. The first one to give the smallest three-
digit number wins. If Vins gives the number 25, what is the smallest three-digit
number in the sequence and who will become the winner?

Additional Activity

Directions: Ponder on the following problems. Answer each item carefully.

1. What is the arithmetic mean between and ?

2. The arithmetic means between the first and the third terms of the sequence is

. If the third term is , what is the first term?

3. Insert three arithmetic means between and .

4. What is the sum of the two arithmetic means between and ?

5. Find the quotient of the first term and the common difference of the arithmetic

sequence whose second and fourth terms are and ,

respectively?

18
 Problems on Geometric
Lesson Sequences

2
What I Need to Know

At the end of the lesson, the learner should be able to:

1. describe geometric and other sequences including harmonic sequence and
Fibonacci sequence;
2. solve problems involving geometric, harmonic and Fibonacci sequences;
3. apply the concept of geometric and other sequences in dealing with real-life
situations.

What I Know

Read, analyze and solve each problem. Show your solutions clearly and neatly.
1. What fraction is equivalent to 0.925925925…?
2. What value of will make the sequence a geometric sequence?

3. What is the compound amount after 3 years if is invested at 8.5%

converted annually?
4. Joe drops a ball from a height of 5 feet. The ball bounces up and down and

reaches of the distance covered when falling during its rebounds. How far does

the ball travel after reaching the top of its second rebound?

19
5. A certain kind of microorganisms double their numbers after an hour. If initially,
there are 2 000 bacteria of this kind are present in the laboratory, what will be
their number after three hours?

Note: You may skip this lesson if you got 4 out of 5 correct answers.
However, you may continue studying this lesson if you missed some
items.

What’s In

Examine each given sequence and decide if it is arithmetic or not. Give reason
for your answer.

1. ,…

2. 3, 1.5, 0.75, 0.375, 0.1875, …

3. 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25, …

4. ,…

5. 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, …

Study the solutions and discussions as follows:

1. ,…

The sequence is an arithmetic sequence with the common difference of 1.

This means that each term after the first is found by adding 1 to the term that
precedes it.

2. 3, 1.5, 0.75, 0.375, 0.1875, …

The sequence is not an arithmetic sequence because each of the terms after
the first is identified by multiplying its preceding term by 2.5.

3. 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25, …

The sequence is an arithmetic sequence with the common difference of 4.
Each term after the first is found by adding 4 to the term that precedes it.

20
4. ,…

The sequence is not an arithmetic sequence because each of the terms after
the first is obtained by multiplying its preceding term by –1.

5. 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, …
The sequence is not an arithmetic sequence because each of the terms after
the first is obtained by multiplying its preceding term by 1.

What’s New

Let’s explore
Situation A
In a game, each player has to relay the same message to two persons in a
minute. Starting off with the first player, Jen, how long will the message be passed
on to all other 254 individuals

1. Complete the table below.

Time in minutes 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
No. of Persons 1

2. Write the sequence formed by the number of persons who received the message
in 10 minutes. Did you observe any pattern? Describe it.
3. Is the sequence formed arithmetic? If not, what do you think is the sequence?
Why?
4. How many persons received the same message in the 10 th minute?
5. How long does the message reach 254 persons from Jen?

Study the solutions and discussions on the next page.

1. Complete the table below.

Time (in No. of Persons Discussion
minutes)
21
 1 After one minute, Jen has told the message
to two other persons.
2 If one person can relay the message to two
3 persons in one minute, then two persons
4 can send the message to four others, and
5 so on.
6
7
8
9
10

2. Write the sequence formed by the number of persons who received the message
in 10 minutes. Did you observe any pattern? Describe it.
Based on the table under Question 1, the sequence formed of the number of
persons who received the message after every minute is

2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1 024.

Notice that each term after the first is found by multiplying a constant 2 to its
preceding term.

3. Is the sequence formed arithmetic? If not, what do you think is the sequence?
Why?
The sequence, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1 024, is not an arithmetic
sequence since the differences between its two consecutive terms are not constant.
This means that each term after the first is not found by simply adding the same
nonzero constant to its preceding term. In fact, as mentioned above, each term after
the first is determined by multiplying a constant 2 to its preceding term. If this is the
case, then the sequence 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1 024 is a geometric
sequence.

4. How many persons received the same message in the 10 th minute?

As shown in the table, there are 1 024 individuals who received the message
in the 10th minute.
Time in
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
minutes
Number of
Persons 1 2 4 8 16 32 64 128 256 512 1 024

Take note that this number can also be derived using the general formula for
geometric sequence. Recall that the nth term of a geometric sequence is given by

22
the rule, , where is the nth term, is the first term, is the common

ratio and is the number of terms. By this rule, the number of persons who heard

the same message in the tenth minute can be found using this rule. That is:

Steps Expression/Equation Discussion

1. What is asked? Find the value of or the number of

persons who received the message
during the 10th minute of the game.
2. What are given? , , To find , the rule needs the values
for , , and .
3.What is the needed The general formula for geometric
rule? sequence is .
4. What is the Substitute the given values for , ,
solution?
and in the rule, where
, and .

Get the difference of 10 and 1 in the

exponent to get the exponent of 9.
Apply the Product Law of Exponents in
multiplying 2 and to get

Simplify as
. There
should be 1 024 recipients of the
message during the 10th minute of the
game.

Thus, the 10th term of the geometric sequence whose first term, , is 2 and

the common ratio, , is 2 is 1,024. This means that there are 1,024 individuals who
are informed during the 10th minute of the message relay.

5. How long does the message reach 254 persons from Jen?
The number of minutes needed to let the 254 individuals know the message
can be determined by using a different rule for geometric series. The sum of the first

n terms of a geometric sequence for is given by the rule,

23
where is the sum of the first n terms of a geometric series, is the first term, is

the common ratio and is the number of terms. That is:

Steps Expression/Equation Discussion

1. What is asked? Look for the number of minutes needed
to inform all of the 254 individuals
denoted by .

2. What are given? , , To find , the rule needs the values for
, , and .
3.What is the The formula for the sum of the first n
needed rule? terms of a geometric sequence when

is .

4. What is the Substitute the values for , , and in

solution?
the rule such that , and
.

Simplifying the denominator by getting

the difference between 1 and 2.

Apply the Multiplication property of

Equality by multiply both sides by –1.

By the Addition property of Equality,

add both sides by –2.

By the Multiplication Property of

Equality, multiply both sides of the
equality by .

Express 128 to exponential form with the

base 2 to have the same base from both
sides.

By the Property of Equivalent

Exponents, the exponents of equal
bases from both sides of the equality are
also equal.

24
 This means that 254 individuals will be informed about the message within 7
minutes given that each person can relay the same message to 2 individuals in one
minute.

Let’s try this

Analyze and answer each item below. Show your solutions.
1. Zen went to the library to get the exact number of reference books available in
Mathematics. She found out that there are 6 kinds of reference materials for the
subject. After she counted and recorded the number of books for each kind, she
realized that Book A has 12 copies, Book B has 156 copies, and Book C has 2
028 copies. Zen also revealed that the rate of increase for the number of the next
kinds of books is the same. With this, how many reference books for Mathematics
are available in the library?
2. How much money must be invested at 15% compounded annually to acquire the
total amount of ₱5,350.25 at the end of 12 years?
3. Lorna lends her money at 7.5% compounded annual interest. If Gin receives
₱3,150, how much will he return to Lorna at the end of six years?
4. Emma purchases some kitchen utensils. She pays ₱27 for the first piece, ₱54 for
the second, ₱108 for the third and so on. How much will Emma pay for the 12
pieces?
5. A high jump player is given three attempts to reach the target. Mario reached 6.4
ft on his third attempt and lands at 5.776 ft on the fifth. If the rate of decrease
between two consecutive attempts were constant, what was the height reached
by Mario on his first try?

What Is It

In the previous module, you have studied that any sequence by which each
term after the first is obtained by multiplying the preceding term by a nonzero
constant is called a geometric sequence. The nonzero constant is the common
ratio. Given two consecutive terms of the geometric sequence, the common ratio is
computed by dividing the term by its preceding term. A geometric sequence is finite
if the first and last terms are known. On the contrary, an infinite geometric sequence
has the first term, but the last term is not known.
25
 Remember that the nth term of a finite geometric sequence is defined by the

rule, , where is the nth term, is the first term, is the common ratio

and is the number of terms. The rule applies when finding the nth term, the first
term, the common ratio, the number of terms and the geometric means.

The sum of the first n terms of a finite geometric series is also given by the
following rules:

Recall that in getting the sum of the first n terms of a geometric series, the

value of determines the best rule to use. And if is –1, the sum also depends on

either is odd or even.

In an infinite geometric sequence, the sum to infinity is defined by the rule

Take note that these rules are very much useful in dealing with problems
involving geometric sequences.

Example 1.
The servant who invented the game of chess for his Persian king had
the opportunity to decide on his reward. He wanted to collect grains of wheat
in exchange of what he did. He further asked to place the grains on the
squares of the chessboard in such a way that each square should have double
the number of grains than the square before it. And so, the king agreed to put
one grain of wheat on the first square, 2 grains on the second, 4 grains on the
26
third, 8 grains on the fourth, and so on. (a) How many grains of wheat will there
be in the tenth square? (b) How many grains of wheat will the servant gather
from the first 20 squares of the chessboard?

Consider the following solutions:

(a)

Steps Expression/Equation Discussion

1. What is asked? Find the value of or the number of
grains of wheat in the tenth square.
2. What are given? , , To find , the rule needs the values
for , , and .
3.What is the needed The general formula for geometric
rule? sequence is .
4. What is the solution? Substitute the given values for , ,
and in the rule, where
, and .

Get the difference of 10 and 1 in the

exponent to get the exponent of 9.

Apply the Product Law of Exponents in

multiplying 2 and to get

Simplify as
. There
should be 1 024 grains of wheat in the
tenth chess square.

(b)

Steps Expression/Equation Discussion

1. What is The problem needs the total number of

asked? wheat grains to gather from the first 20
squares of the chessboard which gives
the value for .
2. What are 1, 2, 4, 8, … To find , the rule needs the values for
given?
, , and .

27
3.What is the The formula for the sum of the first n
needed rule? terms of a geometric sequence when
and is unknown is

.
4. What is the Substitute the values for , , and in
solution?
the rule where , and .

Simplify to get 1 048 576. Also,

subtract the denominator to get –1.

Perform the indicated operation by

getting the difference of 1 and 1 048 576
which is –1 048 575. Multiplying this
difference by 1 and dividing the product
by –1 to have 1 048 575 as the answer.

This means that the servant already had 1 048 575 grains of wheat for the first
20 squares in the chessboard. Imagine how many grains of wheat he would have if
all the 64 squares in the chessboard are filled.

Example 2. A hen constantly lays 12 eggs in its nest. How many eggs are
produced by the hens in five consecutive seasons?

Look at the given solution.

Steps Expression/Equation Discussion

1. What is The problems opt to find the total number

asked? of eggs laid by the hen in within five
seasons in a row.
2. What are ; To find , the rule needs the values for
given?
, , and .

3.What is the The formula for the sum of the first n

needed rule? terms of a geometric sequence when
is .
4. What is the Substitute the values for , , and in
solution?
the rule where and .

Get the product of 5 and 12 to get 60.

The hen laid 60 eggs in 5 consecutive laying seasons.

28
Example 3. Vina arranges the number and its additive inverse alternately in a
sequence. What is the sum of the first 10 terms of the series?
Solution:

Steps Expression/Equation Discussion

1. What is asked? The problem poses to find the sum of the

first 10 terms of the sequence.
2. What are given? Let be the term and To find , the rule needs the values for
be its opposite , , and .
, ,

3. What is the The formula for the sum of the first n

needed rule? terms of a geometric sequence when
and is even is .
4. What is the This means that the sum is 0.
solution?

Example 4. What is the sum to infinity of ?

Solution:
Steps Expression/Equation Discussion

1. What is asked? The problem requires the sum of the

infinite number of terms of the given
geometric sequence.
2. What are given? To find , the rule needs the values for
, , and .

3. What is the The formula for the sum to infinity of a

needed rule? geometric sequence is given by
.
4. What is the Substitute the values for , and ,
solution?
where and .

Simplify the denominator by subtracting

29
 1 and to get .

To divide fractions, multiply the

numerator by the reciprocal of the
denominator.

Multiply and 2 to get –4.

By the rule, the sum to infinity of the sequence is –4.

What’s More

Guided/Controlled Practice Exercise 1

Directions: Answer Problems 1 to 3 in a group of three. Show your solutions.

1. How much money should now be invested at 5.25% interest compounded

annually to accumulate 100,000 after 3 years?

2. Certain microorganism doubles every 2 hours. If initially, 280 bacteria of this kind
are in the laboratory, how long will the number of bacteria become 4 480?

Guided/Controlled Practice Exercise 2

Directions: Analyze and solve each equation. Do it by pair. Show your

solutions.

1. The value of a cellular phone depreciates at 10% after each year for three years.

If Ana’s phone costs 10 000, what is its worth at the end of three years? What is
the total depreciation for three years?

2. The country’s population is currently eighteen million and is constantly increasing

at a rate of 12% annually. What will be the country’s population after 5 years?

Independent Practice Exercise 1

Directions: Solve the given problems individually. Show your solutions.

30
1. Find all values of that makes the sequence a geometric
sequence.
2. What fraction is equivalent to 0.8181818181…?

What I Have Learned

Directions: To check your understanding on the concept presented, answer

the problems below. Show your solutions.
1. At the start, there are 120 mosquitoes in water tub. Suppose that the number of
mosquitoes increases by 50% every minute, how many mosquitoes will there be
within 3 minutes given that the water tub is covered, and no single mosquito can
escape and get in?
2. Joe plans to buy 10 different shirts. If Shirt A costs 250, Shirt B is worth 375

and Shirt C is 562.50. If the rate of price increase for every shirt remains

constant, how much will Joe pay for all the shirts he is planning to purchase?
3. Jona drops a ball from height of 20 meters and observes what happens. She then
notices that the ball consistently rebounds one-half of the distance covered while
falling. How high will the ball reach during its fourth rebound?
4. Eddie says that the cost of his third bike is 8 000 while the fifth bike worth 35 280.
He further says that he pays the same rate of increase from his first to his fifth
bikes. How much does Eddie pay for his five bikes?
5. A ball bobbles up and down after being dropped from a height of 300 feet. When
it bounces up and exactly reaches two-thirds of the distance covered when
falling. How far does the ball travel after reaching the top of its third rebound?

What I Can Do

Consider the situation below. Apply the concept on geometric sequence to

answer it. Draw the figure and write every detail of your solution.

Linda is fencing her square garden in the farm. To plant a variety of

vegetables, she decided to divide the area into smaller squares by connecting the
midpoint of each side of the original square by another set of fence, thus, forming a

31
smaller square garden within the original one. She continues to do the same until the
fourth square is formed. If the original square has an area of 256 square meters,
what is the area of the smallest square?

Assessment

Guided Assessment: Read, analyze and solve each problem. Show your
solutions clearly and neatly.

1. What fraction is equivalent to 0.891891891…?

2. What value of will make the sequence a geometric
sequence?
3. What is the compound amount after 3 years if is invested at 12.5%

converted annually?

Independent Assessment

Directions: Read, analyze and solve each problem. Show your solutions.

4. Jen accidentally drops her pingpong ball from a height of 4.5 feet. The ball

bounces up and down. During its rebounds, it constantly reaches of the

distance covered when falling. How far does the ball travel after reaching the top
of its fourth rebound?
5. The bacteria double their numbers after half an hour. If initially, there are 8 150
bacteria of this kind are present in the laboratory, what will be their number after
three hours?

32
 Additional Activity

Guided Assessment

Directions: Think about the following problems. Answer each item carefully.

1. What is the product of the first two terms of a geometric sequence whose third

term is and the common ratio is ?

2. What is the ratio of the third and the second terms of the geometric sequence

whose fourth and fifth terms are and ?

3. What must be the value of that will make the sequence geometric?

4. What must be the value of and if 12 and 6 are the two geometric means in
between them?
5. The sum to infinity is thrice the first term. What is the common ratio?

33
 Problems on Harmonic
Lesson Sequences

3
What I Need to Know

At the end of the lesson, the learner should be able to:

1. identify a harmonic sequence;

2. contrast harmonic sequence from arithmetic and geometric sequences;

3. use the rule of an arithmetic sequence in solving problems involving harmonic

sequence; and

4. apply the concept of harmonic sequences in music.

What I Know

Directions: Read, analyze and solve each given problem. Show your solutions.
1. What is the product of the fourth and the third terms of the harmonic sequence

whose first two terms are and ?

2. The arithmetic sequence has 4 as the ninth term and 23 as the fifteenth term.
What is the first term?

3. What must be the two terms in between and of a harmonic sequence?

4. What is the sum of the reciprocals of the terms of a harmonic sequence in

between and ?

34
5. What term of harmonic sequence whose first and fifth terms are and ,
respectively, is undefined?

Note: You may skip this lesson if you got 4 out of 5 correct answers. However,
you may continue studying this lesson if you missed some items.

What’s In

Take the reciprocals of the terms in each sequence, and identify the sequence
formed by these reciprocals as arithmetic, geometric or neither.

1. 4.

2. 5.

3.

Solutions and Discussions

1.

The reciprocals of the terms form a sequence 2, 5, 8, 11, 14. Because of the
common difference between any two consecutive terms, these reciprocals form an
arithmetic sequence.

2.

The terms of the sequence give the reciprocals 3, 6, 12, 24, 48. Notice that each
the ratio between any two consecutive terms of the reciprocals is common which is
equal to 2. Hence, these reciprocals form a geometric sequence.

3.

The terms of the sequence give the reciprocals 1, 2, 4, 5, 6. Observe that not all
the differences nor the ratios between any consecutive terms are equal. Thus, the
sequence formed by the reciprocals is neither arithmetic nor geometric.
35
4.

The reciprocals of the terms form a sequence . Because of unequal

differences and unequal ratios between any two consecutive terms of the sequence
formed by the reciprocals, it is neither arithmetic nor geometric.

5.

The reciprocals of the terms form a sequence which does not

resemble either an arithmetic or geometric sequence.

What’s New

Let’s explore

Situation A

Lina bought one kilogram of ground beef for breakfast. To make bola-

bola out of it, she also needs kg of flour, kg potato, kg carrot, and kg of

onion.
1. Write the sequence formed by the different ingredients.
2. Is the sequence arithmetic? Justify.
3. Is the sequence geometric? Justify.
4. Get the reciprocal of each term in the sequence.
5. What sequence is formed by the reciprocals? Justify.
6. If the pattern continues, what do you think is the 20 th term of the original
sequence?

Solutions and Discussion

1. Write the sequence formed by the different ingredients.

The sequence formed is 1, , , , .

36
2. Is the sequence arithmetic? Justify.
If the sequence is arithmetic, then the differences between any two
consecutive terms must be common. To check:

?
Equate the differences of any two
? consecutive terms

Find equivalent fractions for both

sides by using the Least Common
Denominator

Subtract the numerators

Since the differences are not equal, the sequence is not arithmetic.

3. Is the sequence geometric? Justify.

For the sequence to be geometric, then the ratios between any two
consecutive terms are equal. To check:

Equate the ratios of any two consecutive terms

?
Multiply each numerator by the reciprocal of its
denominator

Multiply both numerators and both denominators

Since the ratios are unequal, the sequence is not a geometric sequence.

4. Get the reciprocal of each term in the sequence.

The sequence is 1, , , , and the reciprocals of its terms are

which can be simplified into 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

5. What sequence is formed by the reciprocals? Justify.

The sequence 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 is formed by the reciprocals. To check whether it is
arithmetic or geometric, the processes in answering Questions 3 and 4 should also

37
be performed. For the sequence to be arithmetic, then the differences between any
two consecutive terms must be equal, that is,

?
Equate the differences of any two

consecutive terms

Find the difference

The differences between any two consecutive terms are common, hence, the
sequence formed by the reciprocals is an arithmetic sequence. And since it is
confirmed to be arithmetic, then there is no need to check if it is geometric or not.

6. If the pattern continues, what do you think is the 20 th term of the original
sequence?
If the pattern continues, then the sequence should have the next terms as
follows:

1, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ….

Notice that the 20th term is .

Let’s try this

Follow the steps in solving the following problems.

1. What is the sum of the first five terms of the corresponding harmonic sequence
of the arithmetic sequence ?

2. What is sum of the first two terms of a harmonic sequence if the ninth term is

and the twelfth term is ?

3. What is the product of the first two terms of a harmonic sequence with the fifth
term and seventh term ?

38
4. Find the twelfth term of the harmonic sequence whose fourth term is and the

seventh term is ?

5. What is the twentieth term of a harmonic sequence whose corresponding

arithmetic sequence is ?

What Is It

You learned that a harmonic sequence is a sequence formed by the

reciprocals of the terms of an arithmetic sequence.

Take note that there is no rule for the nth term and the sum of the first n terms
of a harmonic sequence. Because of this, problems involving these sequences are
dealt in terms of the related arithmetic sequence.
The harmonic mean of two positive numbers a and b is defined by the rule,

, the quotient of twice the product of a and b and the sum of a and b.

Example 1. Find the harmonic mean between 8 and 12.

Solution:
Steps Expression/Equation Discussion

1. What is asked? Find the harmonic mean

between two positive numbers
2. What are Given are the two positive numbers
given?
and .
3. What is the The harmonic mean of two positive
needed rule?
numbers is defined by .
4. What is the Substitute the values of and ,
solution?
where and .

Simplify the numerator and the

denominator. Multiply 2, 8 and 12 in
the numerator to get 192. Add 8 and
12 in the denominator to get the sum
of 20.

39
 Reduce the fraction to its lowest term
by dividing both the numerator and the
denominator by their Greatest
Common Factor which is 4.

This means that the harmonic sequence between 8 and 12 is .

The harmonic mean of three numbers , and is defined by the rule,

Example 2. Find the harmonic mean of 8, 9, and 10.

Solution:

Steps Expression/Equation Discussion

1. What is asked? Find the harmonic mean

of three numbers.
2. What are Given are the three numbers ,
given?
and .
3. What is the The harmonic mean of three
needed rule? numbers is defined by

.
4. What is the Substitute the values of , and ,
solution?
where .

Simplify the numerator and the

denominator. Multiply 3, 8, 9 and 10
in the numerator to get 2 160. In the
denominator, multiply 9 and 10 to
get 90, 8 and 10 to get 80, and 8
and 9 to get 72.

Add 90, 80 and 72 to get a

denominator of 242.

Reduce the fraction to its lowest

term by dividing both the numerator
and the denominator by their
Greatest Common Factor which is
2.

Thus, the harmonic mean of 8, 9, and 10 is

40
 The harmonic mean of four numbers w, x, y and z is defined by the rule,

Example 3. Find the harmonic mean of 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Solution:

Steps Expression/Equation Discussion

1. What is Find the harmonic mean of four
asked?
numbers.

2. What are Given are four numbers ,

given?
and .

3. What is the The harmonic mean of four

needed rule? numbers is defined by
.
4. What is the Substitute the values of , ,
solution?
and , where
.

Simplify the numerator by

multiplying 4, 1, 2, 3 and 4 to get
96. In the denominator, multiply 2,
3 and 4 to get 24; 1,3 and 4 to get
12; 1, 2 and 4 to get 8; and 1, 2
and 3 to get 6.

Add 24, 12, 8 and 6 to get a

denominator of 50.

Reduce the fraction to its lowest

term by dividing both the
numerator and the denominator
by their Greatest Common Factor
which is 2.

Thus, the harmonic mean of 1, 2, 3 and 4 is .

The harmonic mean of five numbers , , , and is defined by the rule,

41
 .

Example 4. Find the harmonic mean of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Study the given solution below.

Steps Expression/Equation Discussion

1. What Find the harmonic mean
is
of five numbers.
asked?
2. What Given are five numbers ,
are
given? , and .
3. What The harmonic mean of five
is the numbers is defined by
needed .
rule?
4. What Substituting the values of
is the
solution? , , and , where

Simplify the numerator by

multiplying 5, 1, 2, 3, 4 and
5 to get 600. In the
denominator, multiply 2, 3,
4 and 5 to get 120; 1,3, 4
and 5 to get 60; 1, 2, 4 and
5 to get 40; and 1, 2, 3 and
5 to get 30; and 1, 2, 3 and
4 to get 24.

Add 120, 60, 40, 30 and 24

to get a denominator of
274.

Reduce the fraction to its

lowest term by dividing
both the numerator and the
denominator by their
Greatest Common Factor
which is 2.

42
 Thus, the harmonic mean of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 is .

. What’s More

Guided/Controlled Practice Exercise 1

Form a group of three and do the following problems. Show your solutions.

1. What is the nth term of the harmonic sequence

2. What term of the harmonic sequence with second term and fourth term is

Guided/Controlled Practice Exercise 2

Directions: Look for a partner and answer Problems 5-8. Show your solutions.

1. What is the harmonic mean of 18 and 36?

2. What is the reciprocal of the harmonic mean of 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25?

Independent Practice Exercise 1

Directions: Answer the following problems individually. Show your solutions.

1. What is the absolute difference between the ninth and tenth terms of the

corresponding harmonic sequence of ?

2. The first term of the arithmetic sequence is 10 and the fourteenth term is 60.
What is the sum and the positive difference of the second and the ninth terms of
the corresponding harmonic sequence?

What I Have Learned

Directions: Solve each problem below. Show your solutions.

1. What is the sum of the reciprocals of the first ten terms of counting numbers?

43
2. What term of the harmonic sequence whose second and fourth terms are

respectively, and is undefined?

3. What must be the three terms in between and to form a harmonic

sequence of five terms?

4. What is the harmonic mean of 6, 9, 12 and 15?
5. What is the harmonic mean of and ?

What I Can Do

Make use of the concept you learned on harmonic sequence in dealing with
the given situation.

Jaz is a music enthusiast and an artist. She loves playing guitar and always
focus on the overtones or harmonics produced by its strings. She knows deep inside

that if the strings are of equal tautness with the lengths that proportionate to

, the guitar produces a harmonious sound. If you were Jaz, what would

you prefer to be the strings of your guitar? And if you were to make your own
stringed musical instrument with ten strings, what would be the lengths of these
strings?

Assessment

Guided Assessment: Read, analyze and solve each given problem. Show your
solutions.
1. What is the product of the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh terms of the harmonic

sequence whose first two terms are and ?

44
2. The arithmetic sequence has 30 as the twelfth term and 5 as the seventh term.
How many terms are in between the first and the undefined terms of its related
harmonic sequence?

3. What must be the two terms in between and of a harmonic sequence?

Guided Assessment

Directions:Read, analyze and solve each given problem. Show your solutions.

4. What is the sum of the reciprocals of the terms in between and ?

5. How many terms of harmonic sequence whose nineteenth and twenty-first terms

are and , respectively, are to the left of the undefined term?

Additional Activity

Directions: Think about the following problems. Answer each item carefully.

1. What should be the terms in between and to form a harmonic sequence with

five terms?

2. The fifth term of a harmonic sequence is and the ninth term is . Find the

common difference of the related arithmetic sequence.

3. What is the sum of the reciprocals of and ?

4. What is product of the reciprocals of the third and the fourth terms of a harmonic

sequence whose first two terms are and ?

5. What is the harmonic mean between and ?

45
 Problems on Fibonacci
Lesson Sequences
4
What I Need to Know

At the end of the lesson, the learner should be able to:

1. study Fibonacci sequence;
2. identify the terms of a Fibonacci sequence;
3. compare Fibonacci sequence to other sequences;
4. solve problems involving Fibonacci sequence; and
5. relate Fibonacci sequence to nature.

What I Know
46
Directions: Read, analyze and solve each given problem. Show your solutions.

1. If the nineteenth term of a Fibonacci sequences that begins with 0 is 4 181, what
is the difference between the twentieth and the twenty-first terms?
2. The fish vendor sold 3 kg of fish on his very first hour of retailing, 5 kg on the
second hour, 8 kg on the third, and so on. How many kilograms did he sell after
spending 5 hours in the marketplace?
3. A laborer gathers 5 cluster of firewood on the first hour of working, 8 clusters on
the second hour, 13 clusters on the third hour, and so on. How many clusters of
firewood will he gather after the fifth hour?
4. Mar collected the sunflower seeds from his garden. He found out that the seeds
are properly coiled in such a way that in the first layer, she was able to gather 13
seeds. The second layer contained 21 seeds and the third layer produced 34
seeds. If the pattern on the number of seeds in the first three layers continues,
how many seeds are there in the next layer?
5. How many bees are there in the seventh generation of a male bee?
Note: You may skip this lesson if you got 4 out of 5 correct answers. However,
you may continue studying this lesson if you missed some items.

What’s In

Activity A
Get a partner and take turns in giving your own examples of arithmetic,
geometric and harmonic sequences.

Activity B
Consider the sequence 4, 4, 8, 12, 20, 32, 52, 84, 136. Observe the pattern
and you discuss about it.

Solutions and Discussions

Activity A

47
 Get a partner and take turns in giving your own examples of arithmetic,
geometric and harmonic sequences.

Answers may vary.

Activity B
Consider the sequence 4, 4, 8, 12, 20, 32, 52, 84, 136. Observe the pattern
and discuss about it.

The first two terms are both 4. The third term is 8 and it is the sum of the first
two terms. The fourth term is 12 which is the sum of 4 and 8. The fifth term s 20
which is the sum of 8 and 12. The pattern continues until the last term, 136, is found.
The last term is the sum of its two preceding terms 52 and 84.

What’s New

Let’s explore

Situation A
Ben digs ten holes for his marble collection. Out of curiosity, his cousin, Alan,
seeks for them and finds out how Ben has arranged his marbles. One marble is in
the first hole, 1 marble in the second, 2 marbles in the third, 3 marbles on the fourth,
5 marbles on the fifth, 8 on the sixth and so on.
1. Write down the sequence.
2. Is the sequence arithmetic? Is it geometric?
3. Check if the sequence is harmonic.
4. Add the two consecutive terms of the sequence. What do you notice with the
sums?
5. How do you relate the term and its two preceding terms?
6. If the pattern continues, what do you think is the next three terms?

48
Solutions and Discussion

1. Write down the sequence.

The number of Ben’s marbles on the holes form the sequence is 1, 1, 2, 3, 5,
8, 13, 21, 34, 55.

2. Is the sequence arithmetic? Is it geometric?

To see if the sequence formed is arithmetic, check if the differences between
any two consecutive terms are the same or common. That is,
; ; ; .

Since the differences of any two consecutive terms are different, the
sequence is not arithmetic.

To check if the sequence is a geometric sequence, simply get the ratios of

any two consecutive terms of the sequence. That is,

; ;

Since the ratios are not equal, the sequence is not a geometric sequence.

3. Check if the sequence is harmonic.

The sequence is harmonic if the reciprocals of its terms form an arithmetic

sequence. And the reciprocals of the terms of the sequence are

By examining and comparing the differences between any two terms of the

reciprocals, observe that the differences of the first two terms, , and the third

and the second terms, , are not equal. That is,

and .

Hence, the sequence is not a harmonic sequence.

4. Add the two consecutive terms of the sequence. What do you notice with the
sums?
To add any two consecutive terms of the sequence:

49
 Notice that the sums are also the consecutive terms of the sequence.

5. How do you relate the term and its two preceding terms?
As observed in the answers in Question 5, the term is simply the sum of the
two terms that precede it.

6. If the pattern continues, what do you think is the next three terms?
Following the same pattern, the next three terms should be:

Let’s try this

For items 11 to 15, answer the questions given.

1. What is the fifteenth term of the sequence ?

2. What is the tenth term of the sequence ?

3. What is the eighteenth term of the sequence ?

4. What is the twentieth term of the sequence ?

5. What is the ninth term of the sequence ?

What Is It

Recall that a Fibonacci sequence is a sequence whose first two terms are
either 0 and 1 or both 1, and each term after the first is obtained by adding its two
preceding terms.
Consider the sequence 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34…. Notice that the first two
terms of this sequence are either 0 and 1. Observe each of the terms after 0 is

50
determined and dependent upon its two preceding terms, as shown in the following
table:
nth term Process/Operation Discussion
First 0 Given
Second 1 Given
Third 1+0=1 Add the first two terms
Add the second and the
Fourth 1+1=2
third terms
Add the third and the
Fifth 1+2=3
fourth terms
Sixth 2+3=5
Add the fourth and the
. .
fifth terms
. .
and so on
. .

Example 1. What is the eleventh term of a Fibonacci sequence with 0 and 1 as

the first two terms.
Solution:
As mentioned, each term of a Fibonacci sequence, except for the first,
is determined by adding the next two terms before it. The sequence above provides
the first ten terms of a Fibonacci sequence with first term 0 and second term 1. Thus,
to find the eleventh term, simply add the ninth term and the tenth term as its two
preceding terms. Hence,
21 + 34 = 55.

Thus, the tenth term of a Fibonacci sequence whose first two terms are 0 and
1 is 55.

The previous example gives the idea that the very simple rule to obtain the nth term
of a Fibonacci sequence is only to add its two preceding terms. Also, there is no
specific rule on how to get the sum of its first n terms. This means that if one is
interested in getting the sum of the first five terms of this sequence, just add all the
first five terms.

What’s More

51
Guided/Controlled Practice Exercise 1

Directions: Form a group of three and do the following problems. Show your
solutions.

1. What is the sum of the eighteenth and the nineteenth terms of the sequence 13,
21, 34…?
2. What is the product of the first five terms of a Fibonacci sequence whose first
and second terms are both 1?

Guided/Controlled Practice Exercise 2

Directions: Look for a partner and answer Problems 5-8. Show your solutions.

1. What is the product of all the terms of a Fibonacci sequence whose first two
terms are 0 and 1?
2. Part of a Fibonacci sequence has the first term 610 and second term 987. What
is the sum and difference of the eleventh and the twelfth terms?

Independent Practice Exercise 1

Directions: Answer the following problems individually. Show your solutions.

1. If the first two terms of a Fibonacci sequence are 2 584 and 4 181 and the last
term is 121, 393, how many terms are missing?
2. What term of the sequence 3, 5, 8, 13… is 832 040?

What I Have Learned

Directions: Solve each problem below. Show your solutions.

1. Suppose a pair of male and female rabbits produce another pair of male and
female rabbits at the end of their second month. How many pairs of rabbits will
there be at the end of the tenth month given that they all have 100 percent
survival rate and that the pair produced every time are always male and female?

52
2. At the end of two years, a cow gives birth to a female cow. Suppose no cow dies
within the period and it continues to produce one female cow after each year,
how many cows will there be after twenty years?
3. Basil harvested the fish he managed to grow in the fishpond. He got 1 bucket
during the first hour, another 1 bucket on the second hour, 2 buckets on the third,
3 buckets on the fourth, and so on. How many buckets of fish were harvested if
he spent 8 hours in harvesting?
4. The carpenter covers the floor with square tiles. One piece is done after three
minutes, 1 piece after 6 minutes, 2 pieces after nine minutes, 3 pieces after,
twelve minutes. If the pattern continues, how many minutes will he be able to
cover the entire floor that needs 54 pieces of tiles?
5. The sunflower seeds are arranged in spiral form. If the first layer has 13 seeds,
the second has 21 seeds, the third has 34 seeds, and so on. How many
sunflower seeds are there in the tenth layer?

What I Can Do

Make use of the concept you learned on Fibonacci sequence in giving the
answer to the given situation.

It is Mine!
Leonardo, also known as Fibonacci, created the Fibonacci sequence. Lucas
also make the sequence 1, 3, 4, 7, 11, 18, 29, 47… and was called the Lucas
numbers. If you would make another type of sequence and call it using your name,
what would that sequence be?

Assessment

Guided Assessment

Directions: Read, analyze and solve each given problem. Show your
solutions.

1. If the thirty-seventh term of a Fibonacci sequences that begins with 0 is

14 930 352, what is the difference between the thirtieth and the thirty-ninth
terms?
53
2. The fish vendor sold 8 kg of fish on his very first hour of retailing, 13 kg on the
second hour, 21 kg on the third, and so on. How many kilograms did he sell after
spending 5 hours in the marketplace?
3. A laborer gathers 1 cluster of firewood on the first hour of working, another
cluster on the second hour, 2 clusters on the third hour, and so on. How many
clusters of firewood will he gather after the sixth hour?

Independent Assessment

Directions: Read, analyze and solve each given problem. Show your solutions.

4. Mar collected the sunflower seeds from his garden. He found out that the seeds
are properly coiled in such a way that in the first layer, she was able to gather 21
seeds. The second layer contained 34 seeds and the third layer produced 55
seeds. If the pattern on the number of seeds in the first three layers continues,
how many seeds are there in the sixth layer?
5. How many bees are there in the tenth generation of a male bee?

Additional Activity

Directions: Use the concept of Fibonacci numbers to answer each problem.

1. What is the difference of the terms in between and

54
2. What is the first term of the sequence whose tenth and eleventh terms are

and ?

3. What are the prime factors of ?

4. What is the eighth term of the sequence if the seventh and ninth terms are

and ?

5. What is twenty-sixth term of the sequence whose fifth and sixth terms are

and ?

Summary

This module discussed about the various ways in solving problems involving
sequences. You gained vital knowledge on how to:

 differentiate arithmetic, harmonic, geometric and Fibonacci sequences;

 apply specific rule and solve problems on arithmetic, geometric, harmonic and
Fibonacci sequences; and
 explain the processes in solving problems involving sequences.

Post-Test

Directions: Choose the letter of the correct answer.

55
1. Which of the following is the twenty-fifth term of the sequence whose first term is
11 and the seventh term is 59?

A. 109 B. 178 C. 203 D. 256

2. What term of a geometric sequence is 49 152 if the second term is 12 and the
third term is –24?

A. 10th term B. 12th term C. 14th term D. 16th term

3. What must be the missing term in the sequence ?

A. 3 029 B. 3 246 C. 4 035 D. 4 181

4. Which of the following is a harmonic sequence?

A. C.

B. D.

5. What is the equivalent fraction of ?

A. B. C. D.

6. To practice social and physical distancing due to the COVID 19 pandemic,

students inside the classroom are arranged alternately as shown in the given
illustration below. The classroom can only accommodate four rows with at most
5 seats per row. If 5 seats are placed in the first row, how many seats are
available in the third row and how many students can use the classroom in every
session?

A. 4 seats, 18 students C. 4 seats, 20 students

B. 5 seats, 18 students D. 5 seats, 20 students

7. A stack of oranges has 12 layers with 144 oranges at the bottom layer. There are
121 oranges in the second layer and 100 oranges in the third layer. If the pattern
continues, how many oranges are there in the ninth layer?

A. 9 B. 13 C. 16 D. 20

8. The sum of measures of the interior angles in a polygon takes an array. The sum
of the interior angles of a triangle is 180, of a quadrilateral is 360, and of a
pentagon is 540. What is the sum of the interior angles of an icosikaipentagon?

A. 3 060 B. 3 240 C. 4 320 D. 4 500

56
9. A ball bounces up and down when it is dropped from a height of 20 meters. Each
rebound reaches the distance it just came down. How high does the ball reach
on its fourth rebound?

A. meters B. meters C. meters D. 12 meters

10. A certain kind of virus is believed to triple its number every hour. How many
viruses will there be after 3 hours if there are initially 2 000 viruses present?

A. 6 000 B. 18 000 C. 54 000 D. 162 000

11. Suppose Maria has to eat one kind of fruit on the first day of January, three kinds
on the second, 5 kinds on the third day, and so on. How many kinds of fruit will
she need until the tenth day?

A. 75 B. 100 C. 125 D. 150

12. A certain radioactive substance has a half-life of 2.5 minutes. If 500 g of this
substance is found at the beginning of an experiment, how much were left after 1
hour?

A. 0.000014901 g C. 0.0000298023 g
B. 0.000029802 g D. 0.0000596046 g

13. If the bus travels at 75 kph and back along the same route at 50 kph. What is the
average rate of speed for the entire trip?

A. 60 kph B. 62.5 kph C. 68.57 kph D. 70.21 kph

14. A male bee is one of the many amazing creations. Unlike a female bee that has
both a mother and a father, a male bee is born with only one parent, his mother.
Starting off with a male bee, how many bees are there in its tenth generation?

A. 34 B. 55 C. 89 D. 144

15. A farmer has eight baskets used in collecting chicken eggs from his poultry
house. He placed three eggs in the first basket, six eggs in the second, and
twelve eggs in the third. If he continues to put eggs on the next baskets in such a
way that each has twice the number of eggs as the basket before it, then how
many eggs does the farmer collect?

A. 80 B. 410 C. 765 D. 850

57
 58
LESSON 2 LESSON 1 Pretest
WHAT I CAN DO Guided Assessment 1. B
32 square meters 1.13 2. A
2. 3. D
LESSON 2 3. 8
Guided Assessment 4. C
1. 5. A
LESSON 1 6. D
2. & 25 Independent Assessment
7. A
3. Ᵽ35 595.70 4. 1 200m
8. D
5. 101; Joy
9. B
LESSON 2
Independent Assessment 10. B
LESSON 1
4. ft Additional Activity 11. D
5. 521 600 1. 0 12. A
2. 13. B
LESSON 2 3. 14. B
Additional Activity 4. 15. B
11. 5. LESSON 1
12. WHAT I KNOW
13. 5 LESSON 2 1. 19
14. 24 & 3 WHAT I KNOW 2. ₱3 000
15. 1. 3. 3
2. 6 4. 900
LESSON 3 5. 99, Lina
WHAT I KNOW 3. ₱19 159.34
1. 4. LESSON 1
2. -20 5. 16 000 Let’s Try This
3. 1. Wednesday
LESSON 2 2. 220
4. Let’s Try This 3. 2022
5. 7 1. 4 826 808 4. 555
2. ₱1 000 5. 4
LESSON 3 3. ₱4 861.40
Let’s Try This 4. ₱110 565 LESSON 1
1. 5. 7.09 ft WHAT’S MORE
Practice Exercise 1
2.
LESSON 2 1. 6 kg
3. WHAT’S MORE 2. ₱115 500
4. Practice Exercise 1 Practice Exercise 2
5. 1. ₱85 769.65 1. ₱426 300
2. 8 hours 2. 41 cups
LESSON 3 Practice Exercise 2 Practice Exercise 3
WHAT’S MORE 1. ₱7 290; ₱2 710 1. 15; 120
Practice Exercise 1 2. 31 722 150 2. 10; 11; 176
1. Practice Exercise 3
1. 6 & LESSON 1
2. 8 2. WHAT I HAVE LEARNED
1. 4 hours
LESSON 3 2. 300
LESSON 2
Practice Exercise 2 3. 32
WHAT I HAVE LEARNED
1. 24 1. 975 4. 20
2. 10.95 2. ₱28 332.52 5.78
3. 1.25m
LESSON 1
4. ₱65 703.58
WHAT I CAN DO
5. 1 055.56
Possible Answer:
₱50, ₱75, ₱100,
₱125, ₱150, ₱175,
₱200, ₱225, ₱250,
₱275, ₱300, ₱325
Key to Answers
 59
LESSON 4 LESSON 3
WHAT’S MORE Practice Exercise 3
Practice Exercise 1 1.
1. 28 657
2. 30 2. ;
LESSON 4
Practice Exercise 2 LESSON 3
1. 0 WHAT I HAVE
2. 196 418; 46 368 LEARNED
LESSON 4 1.
Practice Exercise 3 2. 16
1. 6 3.
2. 27th 4. 9.35
LESSON 4 5.
WHAT I HAVE LEARNED
1. 55 LESSON 3
2. 6 765 WHAT I CAN DO
3. 54 Answers may vary.
4. 24 min
5. 987 LESSON 3
LESSON 4 Guided Assessment
WHAT I CAN DO 1. 9
Answers may vary. 2. 4
LESSON 4
3.
Guided Assessment
Independent
1. 14 930 352
Assessment
2. 131 kg
3. 8 4.
5. 17
Independent Assessment
4. 233 LESSON 3
5. 89 Additional Activity
1.
LESSON 4
Additional Activity 2. .
1. 165 580 141bd 3.
2. 89ed 4.
3.61(5)(2)(a)(b)(c)
4. 4 807 526 976xlz 5.
5. 12 586 269 025jpm
LESSON 4
Posttest WHAT I KNOW
1. C 1. 4 181
2. C 2. 50
3. D 3. 81
4. A 4. 55
5. A 5. 21
6. B
7. C LESSON 4
8. C Let’s Try This
9. A 1. 377
10. C 2. 233
11. B 3. 46 368
12. B 4. 514 229
13. A 5. 10 946
14. C
15. C
References

BENNET, JENNIE, et. al. Mathematics: Course 2. United States of America:

Houghhton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2011.

CALLANTA, MELVIN, et al. Mathematics: Teacher’s Guide. 1st ed. Pasig City,
Philippines: Rex Book Store, Inc, 2015.

CALLANTA, MELVIN, et. al. Mathematics: Learner’s Module. 1st ed. Pasig City,
Philippines: Rex Book Store, Inc, 2015.

COLLINS, WILLIAM, et al. Mathematics Applications and Connections: Course 3.

Columbus, Ohio: The McGraw-Hill Companies, 1999.

HOLLIDAY, BERCHIE, et al. Texas Algebra 1. Columbus, Ohio: The McGraw-Hill

Companies, 2007.

ONG, ANITA & GABRIEL PRESENTACION. Elements of Investment Mathematics.

1st ed. Quezon City: Rex Printing Company, Inc.,2012.

ORONCE, ORLANDO & MENDOZA, MARILYN. Worktext in Mathematics for

Second Year High School: e-math Intermediate Algebra. 1st ed.
Sampaloc, Manila: Rex Book Store, Inc, 2007.

ORONCE, ORLANDO, & Mendoza, Marilyn. Worktext in Mathematics for First Year
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Book Store, Inc, 2007.

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