CAPE PURE MATHEMATICS UNIT 2

MODULE 2: SEQUENCES, SERIES AND

APPROXIMATIONS
Presenter: Mr. Garth Reid
BSc Mathematics and Education (ongoing)
 OBJECTIVES FOR TODAY
• Define the concept of a sequence an  of terms an as a function from the positive integers
to the real numbers
th
• Write a specific term from the formula for the n term, or from a recurrence relation.
• Use the summation  notation.
• Define a series, as the sum of the terms of a sequence.
• Identify the nth term of a series, in the summation notation.
• Find the sum to infinity of a convergent series. n
• Define the nth partial sum S n as the sum of the first n terms of the sequence, that is, S n  a
i 1
i
 SEQUENCES
A sequence is a collection of numbers that has order. Examples of sequences can be seen below.

1, 2,3, 4,5, 6,
2, 4, 6,8,10,12,
3, 6,12, 24, 48,96,
1,5, 25,125, 625,3125,
1 2 3 4 5 6
, , , , , ,
2 3 4 5 6 7
 FINDING THE GENERAL TERM OF A
SEQUENCE
In order to determine the general term of a sequence, you must recognise/identify a pattern.

Example 1: Find the general term of the sequence below.

1 1 1 1 1
, , , , ,
2 3 4 5 6

Based on the sequence above, you must recognise that the numerator of all the fractions is constant
(unchanged). However, for the denominator, the numbers increase by one.
1
 an 
n 1
 FINDING THE GENERAL TERM OF A
SEQUENCE
Example 2: Find the nth term of the sequence below.

1 2 3 4 5
, , , , ,
3 4 5 6 7
Solution
n
un 
n2
 FINDING THE GENERAL TERM OF A
SEQUENCE
Example 3: Find the nth term of the sequence below.

2, 4,8,16,32, 64,128,

Solution

Tn  2n
 FINDING THE GENERAL TERM OF A
SEQUENCE
Example 4: Find the general term of the sequence below.

1 1 1 1
, , , ,
1 2 2  3 3  4 4  5
Solution
1
bn 
n  n  1
 TRY THESE QUESTIONS
Find the nth term of the sequences below. Solutions
(i) 6,9,12,15,18, 21, (i) an   2  3  3  n  1  6  3  n  1

1 1 1 1 1
(ii) , , , , (ii) tn 
3  7 5 11 7 11 9 19 1  2n  3  4n 
(iii) un  3
n
(iii) 3,9, 27,81, 243,
 RECURRENCE RELATIONS
A recurrence relation for the sequence an  is an equation that expresses an in terms of one
or more of the previous terms of the sequence namely a0 , a1 , a2 , , an 1 ; n  with n  n0
And n0 is a non negative integer.
 WORKED EXAMPLES
Example 1: Write down the first five terms of the sequence defined by the recurrence relation
below.

an  an 1  3, a1  5
 SOLUTION
an  an 1  3, a1  5

a2  a21  3 a4  a41  3
 a1  3  a3  3
Therefore, the first five terms are 5, 8, 11, 14, 17.
 53  11  3
a2  8 a4  14

a3  a31  3 a5  a51  3
 a2  3  a4  3
 83  14  3
a3  11 a5  17
 WORKED EXAMPLES
Example 2: Write down the first five terms of the sequence defined by the recurrence relation
below.

an  nan 1 , a1  1
 SOLUTION
an  nan 1 , a1  1

a2  2a21 a4  4a41
 2a1  4a3
Therefore, the first five terms are 1, 2, 6, 24, 120.
 2 1  4 6
a2  2 a4  24

a3  3a31 a5  5a51
 3a2  5a4
 3 2  5  24 
a3  6 a5  120
 WORKED EXAMPLES
Example 3: Write down the first five terms of the sequence defined by the recurrence relation
below.

un  3un 1  2, u1  4
 SOLUTION
un  3un 1  2, u1  4

u2  3u21  2 u4  3u41  2
 3u1  2  3u3  2
Therefore, the first five terms are 5, 8, 11, 14, 17.
 3 4  2  3  28   2
u2  10 u4  82

u3  3u31  2 u5  3u51  2
 3u2  2  3u4  2
 3 10   2  3  82   2
u3  28 u5  244
 OBTAINING RECURRENCE RELATIONS
Example 1: Consider the following sequence 3, 7,11,15,18, . Write a recurrence relation
for this sequence.
Solution

a0  3
a1  3  4  7  a0  4
a2  7  4  11  a1  4
a3  11  4  15  a2  4

 an  an 1  4, n  2
 OBTAINING RECURRENCE RELATIONS
Example 2: Consider the following sequence 3, 6,9,15, 24,39, . Write a recurrence relation
for this sequence.
Solution
a0  3
a1  6
a2  3  6  9  a0  a1
a3  6  9  15  a1  a2
a4  9  15  24  a2  a3

 an  an 1  an  2 , n  3
This is known as the Fibonacci Sequence
 SUMMATION/SIGMA NOTATION

Upper Limit
Note: This is where the summation ends

in
Capital Sigma
(Greek Letter)   ai 
ia
General Term

Lower Limit
Note: This is where the summation starts
 SUMMATION/SIGMA NOTATION
Series: A series is the sum of all the terms in a sequence.

The sum of n terms x1 , x2 , x3 , , xn can be written as:

n

x
i 1
i  x1  x2  x3   xn

Now let us look at some theorems involving the sigma notation.

 SUMMATION/SIGMA NOTATION
Theorem 1: If c is a constant, then:
n n

 cx
i 1
i  c  xi
i 1
Proof
n

 cx
i 1
i  cx1  cx2  cx3   cxn

 c  x1  x2  x3   xn 
n
 c  xi
i 1

QED
 SUMMATION/SIGMA NOTATION
Theorem 2: If c is a constant, then:
n

 c  nc
i 1

Proof
n n

 c   cx , where x
i 1 i 1
i i  1 i

 cx1  cx2  cx3   cxn

 c  x1  x2  x3   xn 
 c 1  1  1   1
 nc
QED
 SUMMATION/SIGMA NOTATION
Theorem 3:
n n n

  x  y    x  y
i 1
i i
i 1
i
i 1
i

Proof
n

x  y   x  y
i 1
i i 1 1  x2  y2  x3  y3   xn  yn

  x1  x2  x3   xn    y1  y2  y3   yn 
n n
  xi   yi
i 1 i 1

QED
 TRY PROVING THIS ONE
YOURSELF !
Try proving the theorem below.
n n n

  x  y    x  y
i 1
i i
i 1
i
i 1
i

Now let us look at some basic problems involving the sigma notation and apply the theorems
that we just discussed.
 WORKED EXAMPLES
i 4
Example 1: Evaluate   3i  8
i 1
Solution
i 4 i 4 i 4

  3i  8   3i   8
i 1 i 1 i 1
i4
 3 i   4  8 
i 1

 3 1  2  3  4   32
 30  32
 2
 WORKED EXAMPLES
n
Example 2: Given that S n    3i  2  , find S3 .
i 1
Solution
3
S3    3i  2 
i 1
3 3
  3i   2
i 1 i 1
3
 3 i   3  2 
i 1

 3 1  2  3  6
 18  6
 24
 WORKED EXAMPLES
6
Example 3: Evaluate   5i  2 
i 1
3
4

SEE SOLUTION ON THE NEXT SLIDE

In Sequences and Series #2 PowerPoint, we will look at formulae involving sigma notation
for:
n n n

 i,  i ,  i
i 1 i 1
2

i 1
3
 6 6

  5i  2     5i  2 
i 1
3
4
3
4
i 1

 6 6

 34   5i   2 
 i 1 i 1 

 6

 4 5 i   6  2  
3

 i 1 
 34 5 1  2  3  4  5  6   12 
 34 105  12
 34  93
 279
4
 WRITING A SERIES IN SUMMATION NOTATION
Example 1: Write the series 2  4  8  16  32  using sigma notation.
Solution


 
2
i 1
i
 WRITING A SERIES IN SUMMATION NOTATION
Example 2: Write the series 1 3   2  7    3  11   4  15    5  19    8  31 in
sigma notation.
Solution
8

 i  4i  1
i 1
 TRY THIS QUESTION
Write the series below using sigma notation.

1  3  5  7  9  11 

Solution


  2i  1
i 1
 ARITHMETIC & GEOMETRIC
PROGRESSIONS (AP & GP)
Arithmetic Progression (Sequence)
This is a sequence where each term after the first term is obtained by adding a constant called
the common difference. If a1 represents the first term and d represents the common
difference, then the arithmetic progression is:

a1 , a1  d , a1  2d , a1  3d , a1  4d , , a1   n  1 d

The nth term of this progression is an  a1   n  1 d .

n
The sum of the first n terms is S n   2a1   n  1 d  .
2
The common difference, d  an 1  an .
 WORKED EXAMPLES
Example 1: Find the common difference for the arithmetic progression below.

2, 7,12,17, 22,
Solution
d  an 1  an
When n  1:
d  a2  a1
72
d 5
 WORKED EXAMPLES
Example 2: Find the common difference for the arithmetic progression below.

8,15, 22, 29,36,

Solution
d  an 1  an
When n  2 :
d  a3  a2
 22  15
d 7
 TRY THIS QUESTION
Find the common difference for the arithmetic sequence below.

x, 2 x,3 x, 4 x,

Solution
d  an 1  an
When n  3 :
d  a4  a3
 4 x  3x
dx
 WORKED EXAMPLES
Example 3: Write down the 20th term of the arithmetic sequence below.

4,9,14,19, 24,
Solution
a1  4, d  5
d  an 1  an an  a1   n  1 d
When n  1:  4   n  1 5 
d  a2  a1  4  5n  5
94 an  5n  1
When n  20 :
d 5
a20  5  20   1  99
 WORKED EXAMPLES
Example 4: The fourth term of an arithmetic progression is 20 and the 8th term is 60. Find the
15th term.

SEE SOLUTION ON NEXT SLIDE

Information Given : a4  20, a8  60 Solve Simultaneously:  an  10   n  110   10n  20
an  a1   n  1 d a1  3d  20
When n  15 :
  a1  7 d  60
When n  4 :
 4d  40
a15  10 15   20  130
a4  a1   4  1 d
d  10
20  a1  3d eqn 1
Substitute d  10 into eqn 1 :
When n  8 : a1  3d  20
a8  a1   8  1 d a1  3 10   20
60  a1  7 d eqn  2  a1  30  20
a1  20  30
a1  10
 WORKED EXAMPLES
Example 5: Find the sum of the first n natural numbers.
Solution

1, 2,3, 4,5, ,n Sn 
n
 2a1   n  1 d 
d  an 1  an 2
n
When n  1:   2 1   n  11 
2
d  a2  a1 n
  2  n  1
 2 1 2
n
1 S n   n  1
2
 WORKED EXAMPLES
Example 6: Given that the sum to 30 terms of an AP is 1425 and the tenth term is 31, find the
first term and the common difference.

SEE SOLUTION ON NEXT SLIDE

Information Given : S30  1425, a10  31 Solve Simultaneously: substitute d into a1 :
n 30a1  435d  1425 a1  31  9d
Sn   2a1   n  1 d 
2 a1  9d  31
When n  30 :  31  9  3
from eqn  2  : a1  31  9d
30  31  27
S30   2a1   30  1 d  substitute a1 into eqn 1 :
2  a1  4
1425  15  2a1  29d  30a1  435d  1425
 a1  4, d  3
1425  30a1  435d eqn 1 30  31  9d   435d  1425
an  a1   n  1 d 930  270d  435d  1425
When n  10 : 165d  1425  930
a10  a1  10  1 d 165d  495
31  a1  9d eqn  2  d 3
 TRY THIS QUESTION
Find the general term of the arithmetic series below and the sum of the first n terms.

log 2  log x  log 4  log x 2  log 8  log x 3 

Solution

 log 2  log 4  log 8     log x  log x 2  log x3   n

S n   2a1   n  1 d 
an  log  2n   log  x n  2
 log  2n x n 
n
S n   2 log  2 x    n  1 log  2 x  
2
 log  2 x 
n

 an  n log  2 x 
 ARITHMETIC & GEOMETRIC
PROGRESSIONS (AP & GP)
Geometric Progression (Sequence)
This is a sequence where each term after the first term is obtained by multiplying a constant called the
common ratio. If a1 represents the first term and r represents the common ratio, then the geometric
progression is:
a1 , a1r , a1r 2 , a1r 3 , , a1r n 1
n 1
The nth term of this progression is an  a1r .
a1 1  r n  a1  r n  1
The sum of the first n terms is S n   .
1 r r 1
an 1
The common ratio, r  .
an
 WORKED EXAMPLES
Example 1: Find the 10th term of the geometric progression below.
1 1 1
1, , , ,
2 4 8
Solution
a 10 1
r  n 1 1
an a10   
2
When n  1: 9
1
 
1
a2 1
r  2

a1 1 2 2
n 1
1 1
an  a1r n 1    a10 
2 512
 WORKED EXAMPLES
Example 2: Find the number of terms in the geometric progression below.

2, 6,18, ,1458

Solution
Let an  1458 1458
 3n 1
a1  2 2
r
an 1 6
 3 729  3n 1
an 2
36  3n 1
an  a1r n 1
6  n 1
1458  2  3
n 1

n  7
 WORKED EXAMPLES
Example 3: Given that the first term of a GP is 4 and the fifth term is 64 and that r  0 , find
the common ratio of the progression.
Solution
Information Given : a1  4, a5  64 r 4  16
an  a1r n 1
r   4 16
When n  5 :
r  2
a5  a1r 51
Since r  0  r  2
64  4r 4
64
r4 
4
 MAY 2011 UNIT 2 PAST PAPER QUESTION
A Geometric Progression (GP) with first term a1 and common ratio, 0  r  1, is such that the
26
sum of the first three terms is and their product is 8 .
3

1 13
(i) Show that r  1   [4 marks]
r 3
(ii) Hence, find:
(a) The value of r [4 marks]
(b) The value of a1 [1mark]
 PART 1 SOLUTION

26 26 26
Information Given : a1  a2  a3  , a1a2 a3  8 a1  a2  a3   a1  a1r  a1r 2 
3 3 3
an  a1r n 1 2 2 2 26
  r   r2 
When n  2 : r r r 3
a2  a1r 21  a1r 2 26
 2  2r 
r 3
When n  3 :
1  26
a3  a1r 31  a1r 2 2 1 r  
r  3
a1a2 a3  8  a1  a1r   a1r 2   8 1 263
r 1 
a13 r 3  8 r 2
1 13
 a1r  8 r 1 
3

r 3
a1r  3 8 shown
a1r  2
2
 a1 
r
 PART 2 A SOLUTION

1 13 3r 2  9r  r  3  0
r 1 
r 3 3r  r  3  1 r  3  0
1 13 3
r    r  3 3r  1  0
r 3 3
1
r 2  1 10 r  3 or r 
 3
r 3 1
3  r 2  1  10r Since 0  r  1  r 
3
3r 2  3  10r
3r 2  10r  3  0
PART 2 B SOLUTION

2
a1 
r
2
 1
3

 a1  6
 THE SUM TO INFINITY
a1
If we have a infinite geometric series a1  a1r  a1r 2  then the sum to infinity is S 
1 r
Where, r  1 . Please Note that the geometric progression converges when 1  r  1 or we
can say that r  1. Otherwise, the progression diverges.
 WORKED EXAMPLES
Example 1: Determine whether the geometric series below converges or diverges. Also, find
the sum to infinity.
 2
1 1

 3
i 1
3 1
 3  3   3  
i 1 3  3 S 
a1
Solution 1 r
3
r
a2 1
 
a1 3 1  13
3
Since 1  r  1  the geometric series converges  2
3

9
S 
2
 WORKED EXAMPLES
Example 2: Find the sum of the first ten terms of the geometric progression 1,2,4,8,...
Solution

a1  r n  1
Sn 
r 1
1 2n  1

2 1
S n  2n  1
S10  210  1  S10  1023
THANKS FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION

Presenter: Mr. Garth Reid

BSc Mathematics and Education (ongoing)