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Chapter

Chapter 16

Arithmetic, Geometric and Harmonic Progressions

Arithmetic Progressions (AP):

Arithmetic progression is is sequence of

terms which increase or decrease by a constant number called common difference(d). It is a
series of number in which each term after the first is obtained by adding to the preceding term
a constant number. It can also be obtained by adding the difference of first two terms to the
second term to get the third & so on. Thus a series in Arithmetic Progressions becomes an
additive series in which the common difference can be found by subtracting each term from
its preceding one. It is denoted by d
Example: A.P = a, (a + d), (a + 2 d), (a+3d)
= 2,4,6,8,10
= 10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0.
In arithmetic series terms are denoted by t1 , t2 ,t3
First term is denoted by a & the last term by d denotes the difference between two terms;
t2 t1.
Finding n th term of A.P:
The standard form of A.P as given above is a, (a+d), (a+2d) where a is the first term of
the series & d is the common difference. They can be expressed in the following way:
First term
= a or a+(1-1)d.
Second term
= a +d or a + (2-1) d
Third term
= a+2d or a+(3-1) d
nth term
= a + (n-1)d
nth term of A.P can be determined by using the following formula:
Tn = a +(n-1)d
N = Number of terms & d is common difference
Sum of the Series: Arithmetic Progression is a series of numbers arranged in an order.By
using the following formulae, its sum can be determined.
n
n
Sn [2a (n 1)d] (or) Sn [a L]
2
2
Sn denotes the sum of A.P
n = number of terms
a = First term, L = Last term, d = common difference= t2 - t1

Geometric Progression (GP):

Geometric progression is a sequence whose terms increase or decrease by a constant ratio
called the common ratio. Thus it is a multiplicative series, whose common ratio can be found
by dividing any term by its preceding term.
Definitions: A series or set of number is said to be in Geometric Progression when the ratio
of any number of the set to its preceding number is always the same.
A geometric progression is a set of quantities arranged in such a way that the ratio between
any two consecutive terms is the same.
This ratio is called the common ratio (C.R) & is denoted by r.
Sum of first n terms
Sum to n terms of a Geometric Progression whose first term is a & common ratio r Sum to
n terms is denoted by Sn.
S n a ar 1 ar 2 ar 3 ......... a.r n 1 .......( 1)
The nth term (T )=arn-1
n

16.1

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The sum of the first n terms:
If -1<r<1 Then the sum of the
a (1 r n )
1 r if r 1

a (r n 1)
Sn
if r 1
r 1
na if r 1

infinite GP: S n 1 r

Harmonic Progression (HP):

Harmonic Progression is nothing but the

reciprocal of Arithmetic Progression. We take the reciprocal of the terms & follow the rules
of A.P.
First term is denoted by a. Fixed value added is called common difference and is denoted by
d.

Relationship in A.M., G.M. & H.M.:

Let a & b be any two positive numbers:
ab
Then
AM =
GM=
2

ab

HM=

2ab
ab

a b 2ab
2
(AM)(HM)=
.
ab (GM )
2 ab

(AM). (HM) = (GM)2

Therefore if a & b are any two positive numbers; then their A.M., G.M., & H.M. are in G.P.

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