Solving sequences8/6/2023 is the sum of the terms of an arithmetic sequence. In some cases, the first term of an arithmetic sequence may not be given.Īn arithmetic series The sum of the terms of an arithmetic sequence. Next, use the first term a 1 = − 8 and the common difference d = 3 to find an equation for the nth term of the sequence.Ī n = − 8 + ( n − 1 ) ⋅ 3 = − 8 + 3 n − 3 = − 11 + 3 n Substitute a 1 = − 8 and a 7 = 10 into the above equation and then solve for the common difference d. In this case, we are given the first and seventh term:Ī n = a 1 + ( n − 1 ) d U s e n = 7. In other words, find all arithmetic means between the 1 st and 7 th terms.īegin by finding the common difference d. In fact, any general term that is linear in n defines an arithmetic sequence.įind all terms in between a 1 = − 8 and a 7 = 10 of an arithmetic sequence. In general, given the first term a 1 of an arithmetic sequence and its common difference d, we can write the following:Ī 2 = a 1 + d a 3 = a 2 + d = ( a 1 + d ) + d = a 1 + 2 d a 4 = a 3 + d = ( a 1 + 2 d ) + d = a 1 + 3 d a 5 = a 4 + d = ( a 1 + 3 d ) + d = a 1 + 4 d ⋮įrom this we see that any arithmetic sequence can be written in terms of its first element, common difference, and index as follows:Ī n = a 1 + ( n − 1 ) d A r i t h m e t i c S e q u e n c e Here a 1 = 1 and the difference between any two successive terms is 2. For example, the sequence of positive odd integers is an arithmetic sequence, We will familiarize you with these by giving you five mini-projects and some related problems associated with the concepts afterwards.An arithmetic sequence A sequence of numbers where each successive number is the sum of the previous number and some constant d., or arithmetic progression Used when referring to an arithmetic sequence., is a sequence of numbers where each successive number is the sum of the previous number and some constant d.Ī n = a n − 1 + d A r i t h m e t i c S e q u e n c eĪnd because a n − a n − 1 = d, the constant d is called the common difference The constant d that is obtained from subtracting any two successive terms of an arithmetic sequence a n − a n − 1 = d. There are many applications for sciences, business, personal finance, and even for health, but most people are unaware of these. This chapter is for those who want to see applications of arithmetic and geometric progressions to real life. Hence, these consecutive amounts of Carbon 14 are the terms of a decreasing geometric progression with common ratio of ½. Have you ever thought of how archeologists in the movies, such as Indiana Jones, can predict the age of different artifacts? Do not you know that the age of artifacts in real life can be established by the amount of the radioactive isotope of Carbon 14 in the artifact? Carbon 14 has a very long half-lifetime which means that each half-lifetime of 5730 years or so, the amount of the isotope is reduced by half. As a result, the total number of grains per 64 cells of the chessboard would be so huge that the king would have to plant it everywhere on the entire surface of the Earth including the space of the oceans, mountains, and deserts and even then would not have enough! The king was amazed by the “modest” request from the inventor who asked to give him for the first cell of the chessboard 1 grain of wheat, for the second-2 grains, for the third-4 grains, for the fourth-twice as much as in the previous cell, etc. According to the legend, an Indian king summoned the inventor and suggested that he choose the award for the creation of an interesting and wise game. One of the most famous legends about series concerns the invention of chess. Over the millenia, legends have developed around mathematical problems involving series and sequences.
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