Arithmetic progression
Sequence: A sequence is arrangement of numbers in a
definite order according to some rule.
Arithmetic progression: A sequence a1, a2, ……, an is
called and arithmetic progression, if each term is
obtained by adding a fixed number (d) to its preceding
term.
Common difference: The fixed number added to obtain
the terms of an A.P. is called as common difference
denoted by ‘c.d’. It can be positive or negative.
General form of an A.P.:
a, a+d, a+2d, ……., a+(n-1)d
Where ‘ a ’ is called as first term of A.P.
nth term of an A.P.:
The last term or nth term of an A.P. is given by
an= a+(n-1)d
where a= first term
d=common difference
n=number of term
an is also called as the general term of A.P.
The last term of an A.P. is sometimes also denoted by l.
Sum to n terms of an A.P.:
𝒏
Sn= (𝟐𝒂 + (𝒏 − 𝟏)𝒅)
𝟐
Or
𝒏
Sn= (𝒂 + 𝒂𝒏 )
𝟐
Or
𝒏
Sn= (𝒂 + 𝒍)
𝟐
The sum of first n positive integers is given by
𝒏(𝒏+𝟏)
Sn=
𝟐
Additional Exercise
1. The sum of three numbers in an A.P. is -3 and their
product is 8. Find the numbers.
2. Divide 32 into four parts which are in A.P. such that
the product of extremes is to the product of means IS
7:15.
3. Find four numbers in A.P. whose sum is 20 and sum
of their squares is 120.
4. Write the first five terms of the sequence defined by
an= 2n (-1)n-1
5. Let a sequence be defined by a1=1, a2=1 and
𝑎𝑛+1
an=an-1+an-2 for all n>2. Find for n=1,2,3,4.
𝑎𝑛
6. How many two digits numbers are divisible by 7?
7. The sum of first six terms of an A.P. is 42. The ratio of
its 10th term to its 30th term is 1:3. Calculate the first
and the thirteen terms of the A.P.
8. How many terms of the series 54, 51, 48,….. be taken
to give a sum of 513? Explain the double answer.
3𝑛2 5𝑛
9. In an A.P. Sn= + Find its 25th term.
2 2
