Chapter 13 Sequences and Series

13 SEQUENCES
AND SERIES
Objectives
After studying this chapter you should

be able to recognise geometric and arithmetic sequences;

understand notation for sums of series;

be familiar with the standard formulas for r, r 2 and r 3 ;

13.0 Introduction
Suppose you go on a sponsored walk. In the first hour you walk
3 miles, in the second hour 2 miles and in each succeeding hour
2
3

of the distance the hour before. How far would you walk in 10
hours? How far would you go if you kept on like this for ever?
This gives a sequence of numbers: 3, 2, 1 13 , .. etc. This chapter is
about how to tackle problems that involve sequences like this and
gives further examples of where they might arise. It also
examines sequences and series in general, quick methods of
writing them down, and techniques for investigating their
behaviour.
Number of grains of corn shown

Legend has it that the inventor of the game called chess was told
to name his own reward. His reply was along these lines.

2 4

'Imagine a chessboard.
Suppose 1 grain of corn is placed on the first square,
2 grains on the second,
4 grains on the third,
8 grains on the fourth,
and so on, doubling each time up to and including the 64th
square. I would like as many grains of corn as the
chessboard now carries.'
It took his patron a little time to appreciate the enormity of this
request, but not as long as the inventor would have taken to use
all the corn up.

245

Chapter 13 Sequences and Series

Activity 1
(a) How many grains would there be on the 64th square?
(b) How many would there be on the nth square?
(c) Work out the numerical values of the first 10 terms of the
sequence.
0

2 , 2 + 2 , 2 + 2 + 2 etc.
(d) How many grains are there on the chessboard?

13.1 Geometric sequences

The series of numbers 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 ... is an example of a
geometric sequence (sometimes called a geometric progression).
Each term in the progression is found by multiplying the previous
number by 2.
Such sequences occur in many situations; the multiplying factor
does not have to be 2. For example, if you invested 2000 in an
account with a fixed interest rate of 8% p.a. then the amounts of
money in the account after 1 year, 2 years, 3 years etc. would be as
shown in the table. The first number in the sequence is 2000 and
each successive number is found by multiplying by 1.08 each time.

Number of
years
0
1
2
3
4
Year

Accountants often work out the residual value of a piece of

equipment by assuming a fixed depreciation rate. Suppose a piece
of equipment was originally worth 35 000 and depreciates in
value by 10% each year. Then the values at the beginning of each
succeeding year are as shown in the table opposite. Notice that
they too form a geometric progression.
The chessboard problem in Activity 1 involved adding up
20 + 21 + 22 + ... + 263 .
The sum of several terms of a sequence is called a series. Hence
the sum 2 + 2 + 2 + ... + 2 is called a geometric series
(sometimes geometric progression, GP for short)
0

Activity 2

63

Summing a GP

In Activity 1 you might have found a formula for

1 + 2 + 2 2 +K +2 n1 .
(a) Work out the values of

30 , 30 + 31 , 30 + 31 + 32
246

0
1
2
3
4

Money in
account ()
2000
2160
2332.80
2159.42
2720.98
Value ()
35
31
28
25
22

000
500
350
515
963.50

Chapter 13 Sequences and Series

(b) Find a formula for

2

1 + 3 + 3 + ... + 3

n 1

(c) Find a formula for 1 + 4 + 4 ... + 4

n 1

(d) Now find a formula for

2

1 + r + r + ... + r

n 1

where r is any number. Test your theory.

(e) In practice, geometric series do not always start with 1.
Suppose the first term is a. How is the series in part (d)
altered? How can you adapt your formula for the total of
all terms?

The general form of a geometric sequence with n terms is

2

a, ar, ar , ..., ar

n 1

The ratio r of consecutive terms, is known as the common

n 1
ratio. Notice that the nth term of the sequence is ar .

In the chessboard problem the solution involved adding up the

first 64 terms. The sum of the first n terms of a series is often
denoted by Sn , and there is a formula for Sn which you may
have found in Activity 2. Here is a way of proving the formula,
when r 1.
2

Sn = a + ar + ar + ... + ar

n 1

(1)

Multiply both sides by r :

2

rSn = ar + ar + ... + ar

n 1

+ ar

(2)

Notice that the expressions for Sn and rSn are identical, with the
exception of the terms a and ar n . Subtracting equation (1) from
equation (2) gives
rSn Sn = ar n a

(
a( r 1)
=

Sn ( r 1) = a r n 1
n

Sn

r 1

247

Chapter 13 Sequences and Series

Activity 3

Understanding and using the formula

(a) Sometimes it is useful to write

Sn =

a 1 rn
1 r

) instead of S

a rn 1
r 1

Why are these formulae identical? When might it be more

convenient to use the alternative form?
(b) For what value of r do these formulas not hold? What is Sn
in this case?

Example:
Find
(a) 4 + 6 + 9 + ... + 4 (1.5)

10

(b) 8 + 6 + 4.5 + ... + 8 ( 0. 75)

25

Solution
(a) First term a = 4, common ratio r = 1.5 , number of terms
n = 11 ;
S11 =

11

) = 684.0 to 4 s. f.

4 1.5 1
1.5 1

(b) First term a = 8, common ratio r = 0. 75, number of terms

n = 26;

S26 =

8 1 0. 75

26

1 0. 75

) = 31.98 to 4 s. f.

Example:
A plant grows 1.67 cm in its first week. Each week it grows by
4% more than it did the week before. By how much does it
grow in nine weeks, including the first week?
Solution
The growths in the first 9 weeks are as follows :
2

1.67, 1.67 1.04, 1.67 1.04 ,K

248

......

Chapter 13 Sequences and Series

Total growth in first nine weeks is

S9 =

) = 17.67 cm to 4 s. f.

1.67 1.04 1
1.04 1

Example:
After how many complete years will a starting capital of 5000
first exceed 10 000 if it grows at 6% per annum?

5000

Solution

After n years, the capital sum has grown to

10, 000

5000 (1.06 )

How many years later?

When is this first greater than 10 000, n being a natural number?

In other words, the smallest value of n is required so that

5000 (1.06 ) > 10 000, n N

n

(1.06)n > 2

Now take logs of both sides:

nln1.06 > ln 2
ln 2
n>
ln1.06
n > 11.9

After 12 years, the investment has doubled in value.

Activity 4

GP in disguise

(a) Why is this a geometric sequence?

1, 2, 4, 8, 16, ... ?
What is its common ratio? What is its nth term? What is
Sn ?
(b) Investigate in the same way, the sequence
1, 1, 1, 1, ...

249

Chapter 13 Sequences and Series

Exercise 13A
1. Write down formulae for the nth term of these
sequences:

3. Give the number (e.g. 12th term) of the earliest

term for which

(a) 3, 6, 12, 24, ...

(a) the sequence 1, 1.5, 2.25, ... exceeds 50;

(b) 36, 18, 9, 4.5, ...

(b) the sequence 6, 8, 10 23 , ... exceeds 250;

(c) 2, 6, 18, 54, ...

(d) 90, 30, 10, 3 13 , ...
(e) 10, 100, 1000, ...
(f) 6, 6, 6, 6, ...
1
1 1 1
(g) ,
,
,
,
4 12 36 108

(c) the sequence

2 1 1
1
, , ,K goes below
5 5 10
1000

4. (a) For what value of n does the sum 50 + 60 +

K

2. Use the formula for S n to calculate to 4 s.f.

72 + ... + 50 (1.2 )

n1

first exceed 1000?

(b) To how many terms can the following series

be summed before it exceeds 2 000 000?

(a) 5 + 10 + 20 + ... to 6 terms

2 + 2.01 + 2.02005 + ...

(b) 4 + 12 + 36 + ... to 10 terms

5. Dave invests 500 in a building society account

at the start of each year. The interest rate in the
account is 7.2% p.a. Immediately after he
invests his 12th instalment he calculates how
much money the account should contain. Show
this calculation as the sum of a GP and use the
formula for S n to evaluate it.

(c)

1
3

1
6

1
12

+K to 8 terms

(d) 100 20 + 4 ... to 20 terms

(e) 16 +17.6 + 19.36 + ... to 50 terms
(f) 26 16.25 + 10.15625 ... to 15 terms

13.2 Never ending sums

Many of the ideas used so far to illustrate geometric series have
been to do with money. Here is one example that is not. If you
drop a tennis ball, or any elastic object, onto a horizontal floor it
will bounce back up part of the way. If left to its own devices it
will continue to bounce, the height of the bounces decreasing
each time.
The ratio between the heights of consecutive bounces is
constant, hence these heights follow a GP. The same thing is
true of the times between bounces.

Activity 5

Bouncing ball

(a) A tennis ball is dropped from a height of 1 metre onto a

concrete floor. After its first bounce, it rises to a height of
49cm. Call the height after the nth bounce hn. Find a
formula for hn and say what happens to hn as n gets larger.
(b) Under these circumstances the time between the first and
second bounces is 0.6321 seconds. Call this t1. The next
time, t2, is 0. 7 t1 , and each successive time is 0.7 times the
previous one. Find a formula for t n.
250

Chapter 13 Sequences and Series

(c) If S2 = t1 + t2, what does S2 represent? What does Sn mean?

Calculate S10 , S20 and S50 . How long after the first bounce
does the ball stop bouncing altogether, to the nearest tenth
of a second?

Activity 5 gave an example of a convergent sequence.

Convergence, in this context, means that the further along the
sequence you go, the closer you get to a specific value. For
example, in part (a) the sequence to the nearest 0.1 cm is
100, 49.0, 24.0, 11.8, 5.8, 2.8, 1.4, ...
and the numbers get closer and closer to zero. Zero is said to be
the limit of the sequence.

hn
100
80
60
40
20
0

10

10

Part (b) also gave a sequence that converged to zero. In part (c),
the sequence of numbers S1 , S2 , S3 , ... start as follows :
0.6321, 1.0746, 1.3844, 1.6012, 1.7530, ...

Sn
2

You should have found that this sequence did approach a limit,
but that this was not zero. Hence the series has a convergent
sum, that is, the sum Sn of the series also converges.
The series 1, 2, 4, 8 ...... is a divergent sequence. It grows
without limit as the number of terms increases. The same is
true, in a slightly different sense, of the sequence 1, 2, 4, 8
...... Any sequence that does not converge is said to be
divergent.

Activity 6 Convergent or divergent?

For each of these sequences
(i)

th
write a formula for the n term;

(ii) find whether the sequence converges;

(iii) find whether the sum Sn converges.
(a) 6, 2,

2 2
, ,K
3 9

(b) 1, 1.5, 2.25, 3.375, ...

(c) 4, 3,

9
4

27
, 16
...

(d) 1, 1.01, 1.012, 1.0123, ...

(e) 8, 9.6, 11.52, 13.824 ...

251

Chapter 13 Sequences and Series

Behaviour of r n

Activity 7

(a) What happens to rn as n gets larger (i.e. as n )? (You

might need to see what happens for a variety of different
values of r, positive and negative, large and small.)
(b) The sum of the first n terms of a geometric sequence is
given by

Sn =

a 1 rn

1 r
If rn converges to 0 as n , what can you say about the
limit of Sn as n ?

Activity 8 Experimental verification

Conduct an experiment with a bouncing ball. Calculate the
theoretical time from the first bounce until it stops bouncing.
Then use a stop-watch to see how close the answer is to your
calculation. You will need to know that:
If a ball is dropped from a height of 1 metre and rises after the
first bounce to a height of h metres, then the time between the
first and second bounce is given by

t1 = 0.90305 h ,
and the common ratio in the sequence t1 , t2 , t3

A geometric series, a + ar + ar +... +ar

n 1

is

h.

converges when

r < 1; i.e. for 1 < r < 1. Since if r < 1, r n 0 as n and

Sn

a
1 r
denoted S .
The limit

a
as n
1 r

is known as the 'sum to infinity' and is

Example
Find
(a) 8 + 4 + 2 + 1+ ...
(b) 20 16 + 12.8 10.24 + ...

252

Chapter 13 Sequences and Series

Solution
(a) This is a geometric series with first term 8 and common
ratio 1 , so
2
S =

8
= 16 .
1 12

(b) This is a geometric series with first term 20 and common

ratio 0.8, so
S =

20
= 20 = 100 = 11.1 (to 3 s.f.).
1.8
9
1 ( 0. 8)

Exercise 13B
1. Find these sums to infinity, where they exist.
(a) 80 + 20 + 5 + 1.25 + ...
(b) 180 60 + 20 20/3 + ...
(c) 2 + 1.98 + 1.9602 + ...
(d) 100 + 110 121 + ...
(e) 1/10 + 1/100 + 1/1000 + ...
2. (a) What is 1/10 + 1/100 + 1/1000 + ... as a
recurring decimal?
(b) Express 0.37373737 ... as an infinite
geometric series and find the fraction it
represents.
3. What fractions do these decimals represent?
(a) 0.52525252 ...
(b) 0.358358358...
(c) 0.194949494 ...
4. (a) A GP has a common ratio of 0.65. Its sum to
infinity is 120. What is the first term?
(b) Another GP has 2.8 as its first term and its
sum to infinity is 3.2 Find its common ratio.

5. Rosita is using a device to extract

air from a bottle of wine. This
helps to preserve the wine left in
the bottle.
The pump she uses can extract a
maximum of 46 cm 3 . In practice
what happens is that the first
attempt extracts 46 cm 3 and
subsequent extractions follow a
geometric sequence.
Rositas second attempt extracts
36 cm 3 . What is the maximum
amount of air she can remove in
total?
6. A rubber ball is dropped from a height of
6 metres and after the first bounce rises to a
height of 4.7 m. It is left to continue bouncing
until it stops.
(a) A computerized timer is started when it first
hits the ground. The second contact with the
ground occurs after 1.958 seconds and the
third after 3.690 seconds. Given that the
times between consecutive contacts with the
ground follow a geometric sequence, how
long does the ball take to stop bouncing?
(b) The heights to which the ball rises after each
impact also follow a geometric sequence.
Between the release of the ball and the
second bounce the ball travels 6 + 2 x 4.7 =
15.4 m. How far does the ball travel
altogether?

253

Chapter 13 Sequences and Series

13.3 Arithmetic sequences

Geometric sequences involve a constant ratio between
consecutive terms. Another important type of sequence involves
a constant difference between consecutive terms; such a
sequence is called an arithmetic sequence.
In an experiment to measure the descent of a trolley rolling
down a slope a 'tickertape timer' is used to measure the distance
travelled in each second. The results are shown in the table.
The sequence 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 is an example of an arithmetic
sequence. The sequence starts with 3 and thereafter each term is
2 more than the previous one. The difference of 2 is known as
the common difference.
It would be useful to find the total distance travelled in the first
6 seconds by adding the numbers together. A quick numerical
trick for doing this is to imagine writing the numbers out twice,
once forwards once backwards, as shown below
3

11

13

13

11

Each pair of vertical numbers adds up to 16. So adding the two

sequences, you have 6 16 between them. Hence the sum of
the original series is

1
(6 16) = 48 .
2
The sum of terms of an arithmetic sequence is called an
arithmetic series or progression, often called AP for short.

Activity 9

Distance travelled

Use the example above of a trolley rolling down a slope to

answer these questions.
(a) Work out the distance travelled in the 20th second.
(b) Calculate S20, the distance travelled in the first 20 seconds,
using the above method.
(c) What is the distance travelled in the nth second?
(d) Show that the trolley travels a distance of n(n+2) cm in the
first n seconds.

254

Second

cm travelled
in second

1
2
3
4
5
6

3
5
7
9
11
13

Chapter 13 Sequences and Series

Example
Consider the arithmetic sequence 8, 12, 16, 20 ...
Find expressions
(a) for un , (the nth term)

(b)

for Sn.

Solution
In this AP the first term is 8 and the common difference 4.
(a)

u1 = 8
u2 = 8 + 4
u3 = 8 + 2 4
u4 = 8 + 3 4

etc.

un is obtained by adding on the common difference ( n 1)

times.

un = 8 + 4( n 1)
= 4n + 4

(b) To find Sn , follow the procedure explained previously:

12

KKKK

4n

4n + 4

4n + 4 4n

KKKK

12

Each pair adds up to 4n + 12. There are n pairs.

So

2Sn = n( 4n + 12 )
= 4n( n + 3)

giving

Sn = 2n( n + 3).

Exercise 13C
1. Use the 'numerical trick' to calculate

2. Find formulae for u n and S n in these sequences :

(a) 3 + 7 + 11 + ... + 27

(a) 1, 4, 7, 10, ...

(b) 52 + 46 + 40 + ... + 4

(b) 12, 21, 30, 39, ...

(c) the sum of all the numbers on a traditional

clock face;

(c) 60, 55, 50, 45, ...

(d) the sum of all the odd numbers between

1 and 99.

(d) 1, 2 12 , 4, 5 12 , K
3. A model railway manufacturer makes pieces of
track of lengths 8 cm, 10 cm, 12 cm, etc. up to
and including 38 cm. An enthusiast buys
5 pieces of each length. What total length of
track can be made?

255

Chapter 13 Sequences and Series

The general arithmetic sequence is often denoted by

a, a+d, a+2d, a+3d, etc. ...
To sum the series of the first n terms of the sequence,
Sn = a + ( a + d ) + ( a + 2d ) + ... + ( a + ( n 1)d )

Note that the order can be reversed to give

Sn = ( a + ( n 1)d ) + ( a + ( n 2 )d ) + ... + a

Adding the two expressions for Sn gives

2Sn = ( 2a + ( n 1)d ) + (2a + ( n 1)d ) + ... + ( 2a + ( n 1)d )
= n[ 2a + ( n 1)d ]

So

Sn = 2n ( 2a + ( n 1)d )
An alternative form for Sn is given in terms of its first and last
term, a and l, where

l = a + ( n 1)d
since the nth term of the sequence is given by

un = a + ( n 1)d .
Thus

Sn = 2n ( a + l )

Example
Sum the series 5 + 9 + 13 + ... to 20 terms.
Solution
This is an arithmetic sequence with first term 5 and common
difference 4; so
S20 =

256

20
(2 5 + 19 4) = 860
2

Chapter 13 Sequences and Series

Example
The sum of the series 1 + 8 + 15 + ... is 396. How many terms
does the series contain?
Solution
This is an arithmetic sequence with first term 1 and common
difference 7. Let the number of terms in the sequence be n.

Sn = 396

n
(2 + 7 (n 1)) = 396
2

n ( 7n 5) = 792

7n2 5n 792 = 0

( 7n + 72 ) ( n 11) = 0

n = 11 since 72 is not an integer.

7

The number of terms is 11.

Activity 10 Ancient Babylonian problem

Ten brothers receive 100 shekels between them. Each brother
receives a constant amount more than the next oldest. The
seventh oldest brother receives 7 shekels. How much does each
brother receive?

Exercise 13D
1. Find the sum of

3. How many terms are there if

(a) 11 + 14 + 17 + ... to 16 terms

(a) 52 + 49 + 46 + ... = 385?

(b) 27 + 22 + 17 + ... to 10 terms

(b) 0.35 + 0.52 + 0.69 + ... = 35.72?

(c) 5 + 17 + 29 + ... + 161

(d) 7.2 + 7.8 + 8.4 + ... to 21 terms
(e) 90 + 79 + 68 + ... 20
(f) 0.12 + 0.155 + 0.19 + ... to 150 terms
2. The last three terms of an arithmetical sequence
with 18 terms is as follows : ...67, 72, 77. Find
the first term and the sum of the series.

4. The first term of an arithmetic series is 16 and

the last is 60. The sum of the arithmetic series is
342. Find the common difference.
5. New employees joining a firm in the clerical
grade receive an annual salary of 8500. Every
year they stay with the firm they have a salary
increase of 800, up to a maximum of 13300
p.a. How much does a new employee earn in
total, up to and including the year on maximum
salary?

257

Chapter 13 Sequences and Series

13.4 Sigma notation

Repeatedly having to write out terms in a series is time
consuming. Mathematicians have developed a form of notation
which both shortens the process and is easy to use. It involves
the use of the Greek capital letter (sigma), the equivalent of
the letter S, for sum.
12

The series 2 + 4 + 8 + ... + 212 can be shortened to 2 r .

r =1

This is because every term in the series is of the form 2 r , and all
the values of 2 r , from r =1 to r =12 are added up. In this
example the ' 2 r ' is called the general term; 12 and 1 are the top
and bottom limits of the sum.
Similarly, the series
60 + 60 ( 0.95) +K +60 ( 0.95)30

can be abbreviated to
30

r
60 ( 0.95) .

r =0

Often there is more than one way to use the notation. The series
1
2

+ ... +

99
100

has a general term that could be thought of as either

r 1
r
r + 1 or as r . Hence the series can be written as either
100 r 1
r
or
.
r =1 r + 1
r=2 r
99

Example
9

Write out what (10 r ) means and write down another way
2

r =1

of expressing the same series, using notation.

258

Chapter 13 Sequences and Series

Solution
9

(10 r )

r =1

= (10 1) + (10 2 ) + ... + (10 9)

2

= 9 + 8 + ... + 1

An alternative way of writing the same series is to think of it in

reverse:
2

1 + 2 + ... + 8 + 9 = r

r =1

Example
Express in notation 'the sum of all multiples of 5 between 1
and 100 inclusive'.
Solution
All multiples of 5 are of the form 5r, r N .
100 = 5 20, so the top limit is 20. The lowest multiple of 5 to
be included is 5 1 . The sum is therefore
20

5 + 10 + 15 + ... + 100 = 5r
r =1

Example
Express in notation 'the sum of the first n positive integers
ending in 3'.
Solution
Numbers ending in 3 have the form 10r+3, r N . The first
number required is 3 itself, so the bottom limit must be r = 0.
This means that the top limit must be n 1 . Hence the answer is
n 1

(10r + 3)

r=0

( = 3 + 13 +

... + (10n 7))

[An alternative answer is (10r 7) ]

r =1

259

Chapter 13 Sequences and Series

Exercise 13E
(f) 14 + 17 + 20+K +62

1. Write out the first three and last terms of:

15

(a)

( 2r 1)

(b)

r =5

r=1

(h)

r2
r=3 r

10

(c)

(g) 5 + 50 + 500+K +5 10 .

10

(d)

r =1

3. Use notation to write:

(a) the sum of all natural numbers with two
digits;

100

(e)

(r 2)

(b) the sum of the first 60 odd numbers;

r=6

(c) the sum of all the square numbers from 100 to

400 inclusive;

2. Shorten these expressions using notation.

(a) 1+

1 2
3
20
+
+
+K +
6 12 20
21 22

(d) the sum of all numbers between 1 and 100

inclusive that leave remainder 1 when divided
by 7.

1 1
1
+ +K +
2 3
25

(b) 10 +11+12+K+50
(c) 1+ 8 + 27+K+n

4. Find alternative ways, using notation, of

writing these:

19

(a) ( 20 r )

12

(d) 1 + 3 + 9 + 27+K +3

r=1

(e) 6 +11+16+K+( 5n +1)

13.5 More series

Activity 11
(a) Write down the values of ( 1) , ( 1) , ( 1) , ( 1) etc.
Generalise your answers.
0

(b) Write down the first three terms and the last term of
10

(i) ( 1)
r=0

10

(ii) ( 1)

r +1

r=0

r2
2

r + 1

(c) How can you write the series

100 100 ( 0.8) + 100 ( 0.8) ... to n terms
2

using notation?

Activity 12 Properties of
(a) Calculate the numerical values of
5

r =1

260

r2

r =1

r3

r =1

(
r =1
5

r + r2

3r

r =1

41

(b) r 1 1
r=2

(c) r
r=3

Chapter 13 Sequences and Series

(b) If u1, u2, ... un and v1, v2, ..., vn are two sequences of
numbers, is it true that
n

r =1

r =1

r =1

(ur + vr ) = ur + vr ?

Justify your answer.

(c) Investigate the truth or falsehood of these statements:
n
n n
ur vr = ur vr
r =1 r =1
r =1

(i)

(ii)

n 2
n
ur = ur
r =1
r =1

n
n
ur = ur
r =1
r =1

(iii)

[ is any number.]

Again, justify your answers fully.

5

(d) What is the value of ( r + 1) ?

r =1

r =1

r =1

What is 1 ? and r ?

Exercise 13F
1. Work out the numerical value of
10

(a)

25

(b)

r=1

(3 + 5r)

(d)

3 (3.5)

r=1

(f)

5 ( 23 )

1
3

1
4

+ ...

r=1
n

(e) (vr ur )
r=1

2n

(g) ur
r=1

(b) 1 + 4 9 + 16 ... + 144

(c) 12 12 0.2 +12 0.04 ... +12 ( 0.2 )

(c) ur

2. Use notation to write these:

r=1

r=0

r=1

(a) ( ur + vr )

(0.7)

r=1

(a) 1

calculate where possible:

r

r=0

ur = 20 and vr = 64

30

r=0

(e)

4
r=1

16

(c)

3. If you know that

(b) ur vr
r=1
n

(d) 12 vr
r=1
n

(f) (5ur vr )
r=1
n

(h) (1) vr
r=1

50

261

Chapter 13 Sequences and Series

*13.6 Useful formulae

You will find it useful to know three important results

(1 + 2 + 3 +

a formula for r
r =1
n

a formula for r

(1

(1 + 2

r =1
n

a formula for r
r =1

... + n )
2

+ 2 + 3 + ... + n
3

+ 3 + ... + n

The following few activities are designed to illustrate cases

where these series arise, and to work out what these formulae
are.

Activity 13 Sum of first n natural numbers

n

Find a formula for r by

r =1

(a) treating the sum as an arithmetic series:

(b) using a geometrical argument based on the diagram on the
right;
(c) starting from the statement
n

r =1

r =1

r = (( n + 1) r ) .

Activity 14 Another chess board problem

(a) How many squares are there in each of the 'mini
chessboards' on the right?
(b) How many squares are there on a chessboard? Express
your answer using notation.
(c) What is a corresponding three dimensional problem?

262

Chapter 13 Sequences and Series

Activity 15 Sum of squares

r(r + 1)
r =1

(a) Work out r ( r + 1) for n = 1, 2, 3, ...8 .

r =1

Copy and complete the table of results opposite.

n

(b) Prepare formula for r ( r + 1) .

r =1

20

...

...

r =1

r =1

...

168

...

(c) Use your formulae for r ( r + 1) and r to obtain a formula for

n

r2 .

r =1

Activity 16 Sum of cubes

n

r =1

r =1

(a) For n = 1, 2, 3 and 4, work out r and r 3 .

n

Conjecture a formula for r .

r =1

(b) Prove this formula by starting from the statement

n

r =1

r =1

r 3 = (( n + 1) r ) .
3

Why could a similar approach not be used to prove the formula

2
for r ?
The results of the last few activities can be summarised as follows.
n

r =
r =1
n

1
n( n + 1)
2

r =
r =1

1
n( n + 1)( 2n + 1)
6

n
1 2
3
2
r = n ( n + 1)
4
r =1

The useful fact that r 3 = ( r ) is a coincidence (if there is such a

thing in maths). It is not possible to extend this to find r 4 , r 5
etc. Formulae do exist for sums of higher powers, but they are
somewhat cumbersome and seldom useful.
2

263

Chapter 13 Sequences and Series

Exercise 13G
1. Write down the general term, and hence evaluate:
(a) 1+ 2 + 3 + ... + 20
2

(b) 1 + 2 + 3 + ... + 10

3. Use techniques similar to that in Question 2 to

calculate
2

(a) 11 + 12 + ... + 24

2
2

(c) 2 + 8 +18 + ... + (2 15 )

(d) 2 + 4 + 6 + ... +100
(e) 1+ 3 + 5 + ... + 25

(b) 7 + 8 + ... + 15

(c) 21+ 23 + ... + 61

4. Calculate 21+23+25 ... +161
2n

(f) 1+ 8 + 27 + ... +1000

5. Prove that r = n( 2n + 1)
r=0

20

2. Work out r . Use the fact that

r=10

20

20

r=10

r=0

r=0

2n

r=n+1

and hence that r =

n( 3n + 1)

r = r r.

13.7 Miscellaneous Exercises

1. A piece of paper is 0.1 mm thick. Imagine it can
be folded as many times as desired. After one
fold, for example, the paper is 0.2 mm thick, and
so on.
(a) How thick is the folded paper after 10 folds?
(b) How many times should the paper be folded
for its thickness to be 3 metres or more?
(About the height of a room.)
(c) How many more times would it need to be
folded for the thickness to reach the moon?
(400 000 km away)
2. Find formulae for the nth terms of each of these
sequences:
(a) 4, 6, 9, 13.5, ...

5. Consider the arithmetic series 5+9+13+17+...

(a) How many terms of this series are less than
1000?
(b) What is the least value of n for which
Sn > 1000 ?
6. The ninth term of an arithmetic progression is
52 and the sum of the first twelve terms is 414.
Find the first term and the common difference.
(AEB)
7. In an arithmetic progression, the eighth term is
twice the 3rd term and the 20th term is 110.
(a) Find the common difference.
(b) Determine the sum of the first 100 terms.

(b) 250, 244, 238, 232, ...

(c) 10, 2, 0.4, 0.08, ...
(d) 0.17, 0.49, 0.81, 1.13, ...

(AEB)
8. The first term of a geometric progression is
8 and the sum to infinity is 400.
(a) Find the common ratio.

3. Evaluate these sums:

(a) 12+15+18+21+ ... to 20 terms;
(b) 4+12+36+108+ ... to 12 terms;
(c) 52916 ... 65;
(d) 240+180+135+ ... to infinity.
4. The first term of a geometric sequence is 7 and
the third term is 63. Find the second term.

264

(b) Determine the least number of terms with a

sum greater than 399.
(AEB)
9. The sum of the first and second terms of a
geometric progression is 108 and the sum of the
third and fourth term is 12. Find the two posible
values of the common ratio and the
corresponding values of the first term.
(AEB)