Geometric Progression – Summary Note

Let us consider the following sequence of numbers:

1 1 1
(1) 1, 4, 4,8,16,..... (2) 3,1, , , ,.....
3 9 27
(3) 1, 3,9, 27,.... (4) x, x 2 , x3 , x 4 ,....
If we see the patterns of the terms of every sequence in the above examples each term is
related to the leading term by a definite rule.
For Example (1), the first term is 1, the second term is twice the first term, the third term is 22
times of the leading term.
1
Again for example (2), the first term is 3, the second term is times of the first term, third term
3
1
is 2 times of the first term.
3
A sequence with this property is called a geometric progression.
A sequence of numbers in which the ratio of any term to the term which immediately precedes
is the same non zero number (other than1), is called a geometric progression or simply G. P.
This ratio is called the common ratio.
Second term Third term
Thus,   ..... is called the common ratio of the geometric progression.
First term Second term
Examples (1) to (4) are geometric progressions with the first 1,3,1, x and with common ratio
1
2, , 3, and x respectively.
3
The most general form of a G.P. with the first term a and common ratio r is a, ar , ar 2 , ar 3 ,....

General Term
Let us consider a geometric progression with the first term a and common ratio r . Then its terms
are given by
a, ar , ar 2 , ar 3 ,.....
In this case, t1  a  ar11
t2  ar  ar 21
t3  ar 2  ar 31
t4  ar 3  ar 41
On generalization, we get the expression for the nth term as
tn  ar n 1 …….. (A)
Some properties of a G.P.
(i) If all the terms of a G.P. are multiplied by the same non-zero quantity, the resulting series is
also in G.P. The resulting G.P. has the same common ratio as the original one.
If a, b, c, d ,... are in G.P.
Then ak , bk , ck , dk... are also in G.P.  k  0
(ii) If all the terms of a G.P. are raised to the same power, there resulting series is also in G.P.
Let a, b, c, d ,... are in G.P.
The a k , bk , c k , d k , … are also in G.P.  k  0
The common ratio of the resulting G. P. will be obtained by raising the same power to the
original common ratio.

Sum of n terms of a G.P.

Let a denote the first term and r the common ratio of a G.P. Let Sn represent the sum of first n
terms of the G.P.
Thus, Sn  a  ar  ar 2  .....  ar n  2  ar n 1 …….. (1)
Multiplying (1) by r , we get
r S n  ar  ar 2  ....  ar n  2  ar n 1  ar n ……… (2)
1   2  Sn  rSn  a  ar n
or Sn 1  r   a 1  r n 
a 1  r n 
 Sn  …….. (A)
1 r
a  r n  1
 …….. (B)
r 1
Either (A) or (B) gives the sum up to the nth term when r  1 . It is convenient to use formula (A)
when r  1 and (B) when r  1 .

Infinite Geometric Progression

So far, we have found the sum of a finite number of terms of a G.P. We will now learn to find out
the sum of infinitely many terms of a GP such as.
1 1 1 1
1, , , , ,.....
2 4 8 16
1
We will proceed as follows: Here a  1, r  .
2
1
The nth term of the G.P. is tn  n 1 and sum to n terms
2
 1
1
i.e., Sn  2n  2  1  1 
 n 
1
1  2 
2
1
 2  n1  2 .
2
So, no matter, how large n may be, the sum of n terms is never more than 2.
So, if we take the sum of all the infinitely many terms, we shall not get more than 2 as answer.
Also note that the recurring decimal 0.3 is really 0.3  0.03  0.003  0.0003  ....
i.e., 0.3 is actually the sum of the above infinite sequence.
On the other hand it is at once obvious that if we sum infinitely many terms of the G.P. 1, 2, 4, 8,
16, ….. we shall discuss this question now.

Sum of Infinite terms of G.P.

Let us consider a G.P. with infinite number of terms and common ratio r .
Case 1: We assume that r  1
The expression for the sum of n terms of the G.P. is then given by
a  r n  1
Sn 
r 1
n
ar a
  …….. (A)
r 1 r 1
Now as n becomes larger and larger r n also becomes larger and larger. Thus, when n is infinitely
large and r  1 then the sum is also infinitely large which has no importance in Mathematics. We
now consider the other possibility.
Case 2: Let r  1
Formula (A) can be written as
a 1  r n  a ar n
S  
1 r 1 r 1 r
Now as n becomes infinitely large, r n becomes infinitely small, i.e., as n  , r n  0 , then the
above expression for sum takes the form
a
S
1 r
Hence, the sum of an infinite G.P. with the first term a and common ratio r is given by
a
S , when r  1 …….. (i)
1 r
Geometric Mean (G.M.)
If a, G, b are in G.P., then G is called the geometric mean between a and b .
If three numbers are in G. P., the middle one is called the geometric mean between the other
two.
If a, G1 , G2 ,....., Gn , b are in G.P.,
Then G1 , G2 ,....Gn are called n G.M.’s between a and b .
The geometric mean of n numbers is defined as the nth root of their product.
Thus if a1 , a2 ,....., an are n numbers, then their
1
G.M.   a1 , a2 ,..... an  n
Let G be the G.M. between a and b , then a, G, b are in G.P.
G b

a G
or, G2  ab
or, G  ab
 Geometric mean  Product of extremes
Given any two positive numbers a and b , any number of geometric means can be inserted
.......... a1 , a2 , a3 ......, an be n geometric means between a and b .
Then a1 , a1 , a3 ,....... an , b is a G.P.
Thus, b being the  n  2 term, we have
th

b  a r n 1
b
or, r n 1 
a
1
 b  n 1
or, r  
a
1
 b  n 1
Hence, a1  ar  a   
a
2
 b  n 1
a2  ar  a   
2

a
..... .....
..... .....
n
 b  n 1
an  ar n  a   
a
Further we can show that the product of these n G.M.’s is equal to nth power of the single
geometric mean between a and b .
Multiplying a1  a2 ,..... an , we have
1 2 n
 .....
 b  n 1 n 1 n 1
a1 , a2 ...... an  a n  
a
1 2 ..... n
b n 1
a  
n

a
n  n 1
 b  2 n 1
a  
n

a
n
 b 2
a  
n

a

 
n
  ab  2 
n
ab  Gn

  single G.M.between a and b 

n

Relationship between A.M. and G.M.

Let a and b be the two numbers.
Let A and G be the A.M. and G.M. respectively between a and b
ab
 A , G  ab
2
ab
AG   ab
2

 a  b
2 2
 2 ab

2
1
 
2
 a b 0
2
 AG