PRE CALCULUS

Learning Activity Sheet 4

Sigma Notation

I. Most Essential Learning Competency with Code

• Use sigma notation to represent a series (STEM_PC11AG-Ih-3)
• Apply the use of notation in finding sums (STEM_PC11AG-Ih-4)
II. Background Information for Learners
Sigma Notation

In this lesson we look at ways of using sigma notation and establish some useful rules.
To master the techniques explained here, it is vital that you undertake plenty of practice
exercises so that they become second nature.
After reading this text, and/or viewing some video tutorial on this topic, you should be
able to define sigma notation, use/write sigma notation to represent a series, identify the
properties of sigma notation, and calculate sums using the properties of sigma notation.
Have you ever devised a tool or found an ingenuous way of doing things that helped
simplify your work?
Suppose you must find the sum of all multiples of 2 from numbers 1 up to 100. Then
you will write, 2 + 4 + 6 + 8 + 10 + 12 + 14 + 16 + 18 + …. + 100. You will be writing a long
list of numbers until you reach to the last number which is 100. But if we can see pattern with
the sequence, it will be convenient to denote this sum into a shorter and more concise way
possible.
In the previous lesson, we discussed series which means the sum of the sequence
denoted by the expression 𝑎1 + 𝑎2 + 𝑎3 + ⋯ + 𝑎𝑛 . A more concise way to express the sum
𝑎1 + 𝑎2 + 𝑎3 + ⋯ + 𝑎𝑛 is to use the summation notation or sigma notation.

Sigma notation is a way of writing a sum of many terms in a concise form. A sum in sigma
notation looks something like this:

The uppercase Greek letter Σ (sigma) indicates that a sum is being taken. The variable
𝑖 is called the index of the summation. The numbers at the top and bottom of the Σ are called
the upper and lower limits of the summation.
For example, we have this notation:
5
∑ 3𝑘
𝑘=1
In this case, the upper limit is 5, and the lower limit is 1. The notation means that we will take
every integer value of k between 1 and 5 (so 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5) and plug them each into the
summand formula (here that formula is 3k). Then those are all added together.
5
∑ 3𝑘 = 3(1) + 3(2) + 3(3) + 3(4) + 3(5) = 45
𝑘=1

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Speaking Mathematically,
∑5𝑘=1 3𝑘 is read as “the sum of 3k as k goes from 1 to 5”

Writing and Evaluating Sums in Sigma Notation

Example 2.1. Write each summation and evaluate the series if possible.
𝑗
1. ∑7𝑘=2(𝑘 + 8) 3. ∑𝑛𝑗=1 4

𝑘−2
2. ∑5𝑖=0 2𝑖+1 4. ∑6𝑘=0 𝑘+2
Solution: We apply definition of sigma notation.

1. ∑𝑛𝑘=2(𝑘 + 8) = (2 + 8) + (3 + 8) + (4 + 8) + (5 + 8) + (6 + 8) + (7 + 8)
= 75
𝑛 𝑖+1 0+1
2. ∑𝑖=0 2 = 2 + 21+1 + 22+1 + 23+1 + 24+1 + 25+1 = 126
𝑗 𝑗1 𝑗2 𝑗3 𝑗𝑛
3. ∑𝑛𝑗=1 4 = 4
+ 4
+ 4
+⋯+ 4
𝑘−2 0−2 1−2 2−2 3−2 4−2 5−2 6−2 9
4. ∑6𝑘=0 𝑘+2 = 0+2 + 1+2 + 2+2 + 3+2 + 4+2 + 5+2 + 6+2 = 70

Example 2.2. Write the following series using sigma notation.

1. 5+7+9+11+13+15+17
1 1 1 1
2. 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + ⋯
3. 𝑎2 + 𝑎4 + 𝑎6 + 𝑎8 + ⋯ + 𝑎20
4 9 16 25 81
4. 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + ⋯ + 10

Solution:
1. Observe that the terms in the series are the product of 2 and the positive integers 2,3,4,5,
and so on increased by 1, expressed as 2k + 1. Note that 1 is not included in the series. Thus,
k starts from 2 and ends with 8. Therefore, the corresponding sigma notation is denoted by,
8
∑ (2𝑘 + 1)
𝑘=2

2. General term can be expressed as 2(−𝑖)

Since, the series is an infinite series then the terms are infinite.
Where 𝑖 starts at 2 to infinity. Thus,
∞
∑ 2(−𝑖)
𝑖=2
3. 𝑎2 + 𝑎4 + 𝑎6 + 𝑎8 + ⋯ + 𝑎20 = 𝑎2(1) + 𝑎2(2) + 𝑎2(3) + 𝑎2(4) + ⋯ + 𝑎2(5)
10
=∑ 𝑎2𝑖
1=1

4 9 16 25 81 (𝑘−1)2
4. 3 + 4 + + + ⋯ + 10 = ∑10
𝑘=3
5 6 𝑘

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RULE: PROPERTIES OF SIGMA NOTATION

Here are some important properties of sums expressed in summation notation.

Property Example
𝑛 8
∑ 𝑐 = 𝑐𝑛 ∑ 5 = 5(8)
𝑘=1 𝑘=1
𝑛 𝑛 3
∑ 𝑐𝑎𝑘 = 𝑐 ∑ 𝑎𝑘 ∑ 2𝑘 2 = 2(1)2 + 2(2)2 + 2(3)2 = 28
𝑘=1 𝑘=1 𝑘=1
𝑛

c is any real number 2∑ 𝑘 2 = 2(12 + 22 + 32 ) = 2(14) = 28

𝑘=1
Conclusion: ∑3𝑘=1 2𝑘 2 = 2∑𝑛𝑘=1 𝑘 2
𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 3
∑ (𝑎𝑖 ± 𝑏𝑖 ) = ∑ 𝑎𝑖 ± ∑ 𝑏𝑖 ∑ (𝑖 2 − 𝑖) = (12 − 1) + (22 − 2) + (32 − 3)
𝑖 𝑖=1 𝑖=1 𝑖=1
=8
3 3
∑ 𝑖2 − ∑ 𝑖
𝑖=1 𝑖=1
= (12 + 22 + 32 ) − (1 + 2 + 3)
= 14 − 6 = 8
Conclusion: ∑𝑖=1(𝑖 2 − 𝑖) = ∑3𝑖=1 𝑖 2 − ∑3𝑖=1 𝑖
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TELESCOPING SUM PROPERTY:

𝒏

∑ [𝒇(𝒊 + 𝟏) − 𝒇(𝒊)] = 𝒇(𝒏 + 𝟏) − 𝒇(𝒎)

𝒊=𝒎
SUM OF THE POWERS OF THE INTEGERS

Now, we're going to look at the sum of the whole number powers of the natural numbers.

Sigma Notation = Closed Form Expanded

𝑛
1 + 1 + 1 + ... + 1 (n times)
∑1 = 𝑛
𝑘=1
𝑛
𝑛(𝑛 + 1) 1 + 2 + 3 + ... + n
∑𝑘 =
2
𝑘=1
𝑛
𝑛(𝑛 + 1)(2𝑛 + 1) 1 + 4 + 9 + ... + n2
2
∑𝑘 =
6
𝑘=1
𝑛
𝑛2 (𝑛 + 1)2 1 + 8 + 27 + ... + n3
3
∑𝑘 =
4
𝑘=1
𝑛
𝑛(𝑛 + 1)(2𝑛 + 1)(3𝑛 2
+ 3𝑛 − 1) 1 + 16 + 81 + ... + n4
∑ 𝑘4 =
30
𝑘=1
𝑛
𝑛2 (𝑛 + 1)2 (2𝑛2 + 2𝑛 − 1) 1 + 32 + 243 + ... + n5
5
∑𝑘 =
12
𝑘=1
Note: The summations must begin with 𝑖=1 in order to use the given formulas.

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Proof:

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III. Activities

Activity 1.

Activity 2.

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Activity 3.

Activity 4.

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