Unit 1

Sequences and Series

New curriculum revision

 Sequences
• Sequence is
 Sequence is an arrangement of numbers in a definite order
according to some rule.
 Activity 1.1
• 20 people live on the first floor of the building, 34 people on the second floor and 48
people on the third floor, and soon. How many people live on the 5th and 6th floor of the
building?
• Find the next two terms of following sequence.
 Note:
• A sequence is a function whose domain is the set of consecutive natural
numbers starting with 1.

• A sequence is usually denoted by an.

• The functional value a1,a2,a3,a4,a5,…..an……. are called the terms of a

sequence, and an is called the general term, or the nth term of the
sequence
There are two types of sequence depending on its last term.
• Finite Sequence: It is a sequence that has a last term.
• The domain of a finite sequence is 1,3,4,5……….,n
• Infinite sequence: Unlike finite sequence, this is a sequence that does not
have a last term.
• The domain of an infinite sequence is the set of natural
numbers N.
 Example:
• List the first five terms of each of the sequences whose general terms are
given below where n is a positive integer:
a) an=2n-1 b) an=(-1/3)n-1 c) an=1/n
• Draw the graph of sequence an= 2n+1
Exercise 1.1
Fibonacci and Mulatu Sequences
 Fibonacci Sequence
• Fibonacci sequence is defined as follows:
• The Fibonacci sequence is a special series of numbers in which every term
(starting from the third term) is the sum of its previous two terms.
• List the first eight terms of Fibonacci’s sequences and draw its graph.
Solution:
 Mulatu Sequence
• Professor Mulatu introduced a sequence of the form:
 Recursive Sequence
• A sequence that relates to the general term of a sequence where one or
more of the terms that comes before it is said to be defined recursively.
• The domain of recursive sequence can be the set of whole numbers.
• For Example, Mulatu and Fibonacci sequences are some of the examples of
recursion formula.
Find the five terms of sequence defined recursively
a) a1=1 and an=nan-1, n
b) a1=1, a2=3 and an=(an-1+ an-2) n
Find the first six terms of the sequence {an} defined recursively by a1= 2
and an = for n2
 Arithmetic sequences and Geometric sequences
• Arithmetic Sequences:
-An arithmetic sequence (or arithmetic progression) is one in which the difference
between consecutive terms is a constant.
- This constant is called the common difference.
- {an} is an arithmetic sequence with common difference d, if and only if An+1-An= d
for all n.
 Arithmetic Sequences:
• Arithmetic sequence or arithmetic progression is a sequence in which each
term except the first is obtained by adding a fixed number (positive or
negative) to the preceding term.
• The fixed number is called common difference of the sequence.
• If {an} is an arithmetic progression with the first term A1 and a common difference
d, then the nth term is given by
An=A1+(n-1)d
• For the following arithmetic sequence 2, 5, 8, 11, 14,…, what is the first
term, third term and common difference? Find the 6th term.
Given that the 1st term of an arithmetic progression is 10, common
difference is -4, find the terms from 2nd to 5th term.
Find the general term of the sequence An, when the first term is 5, common
difference 4.
What is the 31th term of the sequence 1,4,7,10,...?
When the third term is 10, and the 6th term is 1,
a. Find the general term of sequence An
b. Find A8
Determine whether the sequences with the following general terms are
arithmetic.
a) an=3n-1 b) an=3n2-2
 Arithmetic Mean between two numbers
• The term(s) of arithmetic sequence that is between two given terms are called
arithmetic mean(s).
• When 1, 8, x is arithmetic sequence, find x
Insert four arithmetic means between 4 and 29.
 Geometric sequence
• A geometric sequence (or geometric progression) is one in which the
ratio between consecutive terms is a non zero constant. This constant
is called the common ratio.
i.e. {Gn} is a geometric sequence, if and only if Gn+1= Gnr ; rℝ\{0}. The
commn ration r= for all n.
• For the following geometric sequence 3, 6, 12, 24, 48,…, find the common
ratio r, and the 6th term.
• Given that 1st term of a geometric sequence is -1/2 and its common ratio
is ½. find the terms from 2nd to 5th term.
• If {Gn} is a geometric progression with the first term G1 and common ratio
r, then the nth term is given by
Gn = rn-1
Find Gn, when the first term is 3, common ratio is 2.
Find the nth term, Gn of the following sequence 1, 2,4, 8,16,....
Find the 6th term of geometric sequence whose first term is 1 and common
ratio is 2.
 Geometric Mean between two numbers
• When a, m and b are a geometric sequence, then m is called the geometric
mean between a and b. ( a0, b0, m0).
When 2, x ,5,... is a geometric sequence, find x (x0).
Find geometric mean between 2 and 8
Find the 8th term of the geometric sequence whose 1st term is 5 and 4th is
1/25.(Express the answer in the form of exponent)
Thank You!!!
Lesson 3

New curriculum revision

 The sigma notation and partial sums
• In mathematics, the partial sum refers to the sum of a finite number of
terms in a sequence or series.
• Given sequence an
s1=a1, s1 is the first term of the sequence .
s2=a1+a2 , s2 is the sum of the 1st two terms of the sequence.
s3=a1+a2+a3 , s3 is the sum of the 1st three terms of the sequence.

sn= a1+ a2 + a3 +……….+an , sn the sum of the 1st n terms of the

sequence called partial sum.
Find the sum of the first 5 even natural number.
Let an=3n+1 find S6
 The sigma notation
• The Greek letter sigma ( ) is used to write all the term of infinite and
finite series.

• In this notation, i is called index of the summation or simply the index. 1

is the lower limit and n is the upper limit.
 Properties of Sigma Notation
• The sequence {an}, where all the term is c, the sum of the first nth term is
Properties of
• Evaluate each of the following sigma notations:
Sum of Arithmetic Sequences
Sum of Arithmetic Sequences
 Sum of Arithmetic Progressions
• The sum Sn of the first n terms of an arithmetic sequence with first
term A1 and common difference d is:
 Sum of Arithmetic Sequences
• Find the sum of the first
a. 40 natural numbers b.150 natural numbers
Find the sum of the first 35 terms of the sequence whose general term is
An=5.
If the 1st term of arithmetic sequence is 4, common difference is 5 , then
find the sum of the first 40 terms
 Further on sum of arithmetic sequence
Find the sum S7 of the arithmetic sequence whose 4th term is 2 and 7th term
is 17.
Given the sum S10=165 of an arithmetic sequence and A1=3 and, find A10.
Find the sum of integers from 1 to 100 that are divisible by 10.
 Sum of Geometric Progressions
• Let {Gn}1 be a geometric sequence with common ratio r. Then the sum of
the first n terms Sn is given by,
The sum of the first three terms of the geometric sequence is 7, and that of
the form 4th to 6th term is 56. Find the first term and common ratio.
Thank You!!!
 Lesson 5
Infinite series

New curriculum revision

Infinite Series
Infinite Series
Divergence or Convergence of infinite sequence
Divergence or convergence of infinite sequence
 Divergence or convergence of Geometric sequence
• Considering infinite geometric sequence 𝐺𝑛= 𝑟𝑛, where 𝐺1= 𝑟, and
common ratio is 𝑟, there are cases of convergence and divergence, when
n approaches to infinity, as follows:
Find whether the given geometric sequence diverge, converge or vibrates
when n approaches to infinity.
Infinite Series
 Infinite geometry series
•
• Determine whether the series converges or Diverges.
• Find the sum of the geometric series 5-10/3+20/9-40/27+……
 Further on infinite series
• Find the sum
 Recurring decimals
• Recurring or repeating decimals are rational numbers (fractions) whose
representations as a decimal contain a pattern of digit that repeats indefinitely after
decimal point.
• The decimal that start their recurring cycle immediately after the decimal point
are called purely recurring decimals.
• Purely recurring decimals are converted to an irreducible fraction whose prime
factors in the denominator can only be the prime numbers other than 2 or 5, i.e. the
prime numbers from the sequence {3,7,11,13,17,19,...}.
• The decimals that have some extra digits before the repeating sequence of digits
are called the mixed recurring decimals.
• The repeating sequence may consist of just one digit or of any finite number
of digits. The number of digits in the repeating pattern is called the period.
• Mixed requiring decimals are converted to an irreducible fraction whose
denominator is a product of 2’s and/or 5’s besides the prime numbers from the
sequence {3,7,11,13,17,19,...}.
• All recurring decimals are infinite decimals.
 Converting purely recurring decimals to fraction
Convert the purely recurring decimal 0. to fraction.
 Converting purely recurring decimals to fraction
Convert the purely recurring decimal 0. to fraction.
 Lesson 6
Application of Sequence and Series in daily life

New curriculum revision

 Activity 1.9
1. A man accepts a position with an initial salary of 5200 ETB per month. It is
understood that he will receive an automatic increase of 320 ETB in the very next
month and each month there after.
(a) Find his salary for the tenth month.
(b) What is his total earnings during the first year?
 Activity 1.9
2. A carpenter was hired to build 192 window frames. The first day he made five frames
and each day, thereafter he made two more frames than he made the day before. How
many days did it take him to finish the job?
 Example
Observe the pattern in Figure 1.5:
a. If the pattern continues, find the number of letters in the column containing M’s.
b. If the total number of letters in the pattern is 361, which letter will be in the last
column?
 Example
A theatre is filling up at a rate of 4 people in the first minute, 6 people in the second
minute and 8 people in the third minute and so on. After 6 minutes the theatre is half
full. After how many minutes will the theatre be full?
 Example
A job applicant finds that a firm offers a starting annual salary of Birr 32,500 with a
guaranteed raise of Birr 1,400 per year.
a. What would the annual salary be in the tenth year?
b. Over the first 10 years, how much would be earned at the firm?
A woman deposits Birr 3,500 in a bank account paying an annual interest at a rate of
6%. Show the amounts she has in the account at the end of each year form a geometric
sequence.
Suppose a substance loses half of its radioactive mass per year. If we start with 100
grams of a radioactive substance, how much is left after 10 years?
A man was injured in an accident at work. He receives a disability grant of 4800 ETB in
the first year. This grant increases with a fixed amount each year.
a. What is the annual increase if he received a total of 143,500 ETB over 20 years?
b. His initial annual expenditure is 2600 ETB, which increases at a rate of 400 ETB per
year.
After how many years will his expenses exceed his income?
A flower 110 cm high is planted in a garden. At the end of the first year, the flower is
120 cm tall. Thereafter the growth of the flower each year is half of its growth in the
previous year. Show that the height of the flower will never exceed 130 cm. Draw a
graph of the relationship between time and growth.
Given a square with side a. The side of the second square is half of its diagonal. The side
of the third square is half of the diagonal of the second square and so on as shown in
the figure below. Find the sum of the areas of all these squares.
Thank you

New curriculum revision