Arithmetic Progressions

Questions Exercise 1A Drill exercise in Arithmetic Progressions (1) Write down the fifth and the nth term of the following APs: (a) (b)

( 3r 1)
r =1 n

4( r 3)
r =1 n

(c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) (i) (j) (2)

( 3r 1)
r= 0

First term 8, common difference -3. First term 3, common difference 2. First term a0 , common difference d 0 . First term 12, last term 42, 16 terms. 1, 4, 7, ... 3, 2.5, ... -5, -2, ...

The 8th term of an AP is 12 and the 5th term is 27. Find the first term and the common difference. The 12th term of an AP is twice the 7th term, and the first term is 5. Find the common difference and the 9th term. The nth term of an AP is 1 ( 9 n ) . Write down the first three terms and the 15th term. 3 Find the sum, to the number of terms indicated, of each of the following APs. (a) (b) (c) (d)

(3) (4) (5)

1 + 3 + ... 4 + 7 + ...

7 terms 10 terms

The first twelve even integers a1 + a2 + ... + a9 , where an = 2n 1

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(e) (f) (g) (h) (6)

9 + 11 + ... + 25.

( 9 2r )
r =1

4n

Sn = 3n 2 9n , 11 terms

Sn = 4n ( n + 1) , m terms

The sum of the first n terms of an AP is Sn where Sn = n2 4n . Write down the third term and the nth term.

Solutions Exercise 1A (1) (a) We are given 3r 1, which is the arithmetic progression for the r th term.
the 5 th term can be calculated by substituting 5 for r in the equation for the aritmetic progression. u5 = ( 3 5) 1 = 15 1 = 14 Similarly, to derive an expression for the n th term, once can substitue n for r in the equation for the progression. un = 3n 1

(b)

We are given 4( r 3), which is the arithmetic progression for the r th term. the 5 th term can be calculated by substituting 5 for r in the equation for the aritmetic progression. u5 = 4 ( 5 3) = 4 2 = 8 Similarly, to derive an expression for the n th term, once can substitue n for r in the equation for the progression. un = 4 ( n 3) = 4 n 12
Note that in this question the progression starts from n = 0 1

(c)

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 when n = 0, is the first term of the progression, hence the 5th term is when n = 4 By substituting 4 for r in the equation for the arithmetic progression we get: u5 = 3 4 - 1 = 12-1 = 11 Similarly substituting n 1 for r in the equation for the progression we get the expression for the n th term. (If we were to just substitute in n like in the previous parts we would get the n + 1th term) un = 3 ( n 1) 1 = 3n 3 1 = 3n 4

(d)

In this question we are given the first term a ,

and common difference d of the progression, where a = 8, d = 3 Using the formula for the nth term of an arithmetic progression: un = a + ( n 1) d un = 8 3 ( n 1) un = 8 3n + 3 un = 11 3n To find the 5th term, substitue 5 for n in the above equation u5 = 11 3 5 = 11 15 = 4

(e)

Using the equation for the n th term of an arithmetic progression and the values

for the first, a and last term, d , given in the question we get: un = 3 + ( n 1) 2 un = 3 + 2 n 2 un = 2 n + 1 Therefore to find the 5 th term we substitute 5 for n in the above equation u5 = 2 5 + 1 = 10 + 1 = 11

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(f)

Using the equation for the nth term of an arithmetic progression,

un = a +( n 1) d and the values for the first, a and last term, d , we get: un = a + ( n 1) d0 0 Therefore to find the 5 term we substitute 5 for n in the above equation
th

u5 = a0 + ( 5 1) d 0 = a0 + 4d0

(g)

We have got the first term of the progression so all we need to form a general equation is the common difference. As we know the value of the 16th term we can form an equation for d .

a = 12
u16 = 42 Also u16 = a + 15d = 12 + 15d Hence 12 + 15d = 42 d=2 For the general term un = a +( n 1) d Hence un = 12 + 2 ( n 1) = 2 n + 10 (h) Common difference is 3 and first term is 1 so, u5 = 13 and un = 1 + 3n 2 = 3n 2 (i) Common difference is 0.5 and first term is 3 so, u5 = 1 and un = 3.5 0.5n (j) Common difference is 3 and first term is 5 so, u5 = 7 and un = 3n 8 (2) We can form two equations involving a and d then solve them simultaneously. u8 = a + 7d = 12

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u5 = a + 4 d = 27 u8 u5 = 3d = -15 d = -5 a = 12 7d = 12 + 35 = 47

(3) Again we can use the information provided to form two equations in a and d then solve them.

u12 = a + 11d u7 = a + 6d u12 = 2 u7

a + 11d = 2 ( a + 6d ) a + 11d = 2 a + 12 d -a = d a =5 d = -5 u9 = 5 + 8d = 5 40 = -35

(4) Simply putting values for n we can get the terms required. 8 n = 1 a1 = 3 7 n = 2 a2 = 3 n = 3 a3 = 2
n = 15 a15 = -2

The common difference is progression is:

8 3

7= 3

1 3

therefore we can form the equation for the

an = a + ( n 1) d = 8 1 ( n 1) 3 3
(5) In each case the formula is
Sn = u i =
i =0 n 1

n ( 2a + ( n 1) d ) 2

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(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f)

a = 1, d = 2, n = 7 : S 7 =

7 2

( 2 + 6 2 ) = 7 7 = 49

a = 4, d = 3, n = 10 : S10 = 5 ( 8 + 9 3 ) = 5 35 = 175 a = 2, d = 2, n = 12 : S12 = 6 ( 4 + 11 2 ) = 6 26 = 156 a = 1, d = 2, n = 9 : S9 = a = 9, d = 2, n = 9 : S9 =

9 2 9 2

( 2 + 8 2 ) = 9 9 = 81 (18 + 8 2 ) = 153

Looking at first few terms; 7, 5, 3

a = 7, d = -2 : S 4n = 4n (14 2 ( 4 n 1) ) = 2n (16 8n ) = -16n 2 + 32n 2

(g) (h) (6)

Sn = 3n 2 9 n : S11 = 3 121 9 11 = 363 99 = 264

Sn = 4 n ( n + 1) : S m = 4m ( m + 1) = 4m2 + 4 m

If we have a formula for the sum to n terms then we can always use it to work out individual terms themselves. The sum to n = 1 terms is just the first term.

a = S1 = 1 4 = 3
The sum to n = 2 is the first plus the second term and since the second term is just

a + d we can see that the sum of the first two terms must be 2a + d
2 a + d = S 2 = 4 8 = 4 = 6 + d d =2

un = -3 + 2 ( n 1) = 2n 5 u3 = -3 + 4 = 1

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