OBJECTIVES

Generate and describe patterns

using symbols and
mathematical expression
Find the next few terms of the
given sequence
Find the general or nth term of a
sequence
Lesson#1:
SEQUENCE
Sequence
A sequence or progression
is a set of numbers written
in succession. Each number
of the sequence is called a
term.
Sequence
A sequence is a set of function whose
domain is the set of positive
consecutive integers starting with 1.
The function values
a1, a2, a3, a4, a5,… an,…
are called terms of a sequence.
Illustrative examples:

Sequence Rule

A. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, … 𝒂𝒏 = 2n

B. 1, 4, 9,16, 25 𝒂𝒏 = n 2
Classification
of Sequence
Classification of Sequence

A sequence is said
to be finite if it
has a first term
and a last term.
Examples:
A. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 The first term
is 1 and the last
term is 9.
1 1 1 1 1
B. , , , , The first term
2 3 4 5 6
1
is and the last
2
1
term is .
6
Classification of Sequence

A sequence is said
to be infinite if it
has a first term
but no last term,
Examples:

A. 3, 6, 9, 12,…,… where n is
a positive
counting number.

B. 2, 6, 12, 20, … where n is a

positive counting
number.
 Classification of Sequence

FINITE SEQUENCE INFINITE SEQUENCE

❑ THERE ARE ONLY A ❑ THERE ARE INFINITE
FINITE NUMBER OF NUMBER OF TERMS
TERMS ❑ THEY DO NOT HAVE
❑ THEY HAVE A LAST LAST TERM
TERM ❑ 11, 22, 33, 44, ...
❑ 10, 20, 30, 40, 50
FINDING THE TERMS OF A
SEQUENCE
Sequences are usually given by stating their general
term or nth term. As an example, let us consider the
sequence given by
an = 2n + 1
a1 = 2(1) + 1 = 2 + 1 = 3
a2 = 2(2) + 1 = 4 + 1 = 5
a3 = 2(3) + 1 = 6 + 1 = 7
a4 = 2(4) + 1 = 8 + 1 = 9
a5 = 2(5) + 1 = 10 + 1 = 11
If we are asked to get the first five terms of the
sequence, we have 3, 5, 7, 9, 11
Finding the next terms of a sequence
Find the first four terms of the sequence whose nth term
is an = 2 +3n

a1 = 5 a2 = 8 a3 = 11 a4 = 14
𝒏
−𝟏
List the first five terms of the sequence given by: an =
𝒏𝟐
𝟏 −𝟏 𝟏 −𝟏
a1 = –1 a2 = a3 = a4 = a5 =
𝟒 𝟗 𝟏𝟔 𝟐𝟓

Find the 7th term and the 25th term of the sequence whose
nth term is 𝒏𝟐−𝟏
an =
𝒏𝟐+𝟏
LESSON#2

ARITHMETIC
SEQUENCE
OBJECTIVES:
❖ Illustrates an Arithmetic
Sequence
❖ Find the next few terms of an
Arithmetic Sequence
❖ Determine the Unknown value
of a given Arithmetic Sequence
Below are squares formed by matchsticks.

Count the number of matchsticks in each figure and

record in the table.

No. of square 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

No. of matchsticks 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25
 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, …
 Inthe sequence 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, …, each
term (after the first) can be obtained by
adding three to the term immediately
preceding it. That is,
the second term = the first term + 3
the third term = the second term + 3
and so forth.
A sequence like this is given a special name
ARITHMETIC SEQUENCE
An arithmetic sequence is a
sequence in which every term
after the first term is the sum of
the preceding term and a
fixed number called the
common difference ( d ) of
the sequence.
For example, the arithmetic
sequence is given by 1, 6, 11, 16, …
we can say that on the sequence, 𝑎1 = 1 and
𝑑 = 5 (each term is found by adding 5 to the
preceding term). Thus,
𝑎2 = 𝑎1 + 5 = 1 + 5 = 6
𝑎3 = 𝑎2 + 5 = 6 + 5 = 11
𝑎4 = 𝑎3 + 5 = 11 + 5 = 16
If we take any term and subtract
the preceding term, the difference is
always 5. This is why 𝑑 is called the
𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 of the sequence
FINDING THE NEXT FEW TERMS
To find the next few terms in an
arithmetic sequence, you first need to
find the common difference.
Once you know the common
difference, you can use it to find the
next terms by adding it to the
preceding term.

12.4, 11.2, 10, 8.8, 7.6, 6.4, 5.2, __

ARITHMETIC SEQUENCE
Thefollowing notations we will
be used are:
𝑎1 = 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚
𝑎𝑛 = 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚
𝑑 = 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒
𝑛 = 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎1 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑛
FORMULA FOR THE nth TERM
 A general formula for calculating any particular term
of an arithmetic sequence is a useful tool. Suppose
we calculate several terms of any arithmetic
sequence.
1𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚 = 𝑎1 = 𝑎1 + 0𝑑
2𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚 = 𝑎2 = 𝑎1 + 1𝑑
3𝑟𝑑 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚 = 𝑎3 = 𝑎2 + 2𝑑
4𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚 = 𝑎4 = 𝑎3 + 3𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ
In each case, the nth term, is the first term plus (n – 1)
times the common difference d. Thus, we have the
general formula or the nth term formula for arithmetic
sequence
𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚 = 𝑎𝑛 = 𝑎1 + 𝑛 − 1 𝑑
 FINDING THE nth TERM
Find the 5th term of the arithmetic
sequence with the first term 3 and
the common difference 4.
GIVEN: 𝑎1 = 3, 𝑑 = 4
𝑎𝑛 = 𝑎1 + 𝑛 − 1 𝑑
𝑎5 = 3 + 5 − 1 4
𝑎5 = 3 + 4 4
𝑎5 = 3 + 16
𝒂𝟓 = 𝟏𝟗
 FINDING THE nth TERM
Find the 14th term of the
arithmetic sequence 5, 7, 9, 11, …
GIVEN: 𝑎1 = 5, 𝑑 = 2
𝑎𝑛 = 𝑎1 + 𝑛 − 1 𝑑
𝑎14 = 5 + 14 − 1 2
𝑎14 = 5 + 13 2
𝑎14 = 5 + 26
𝒂𝟏𝟒 = 𝟑𝟏
 Find the 14 term of
th

the arithmetic
31
sequence 5, 7, 9, 11, …

5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19,

21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31
 FINDING THE nth TERM
Find the 20th term of the
arithmetic sequence 17,13, 9, …
GIVEN: 𝑎1 = 17, 𝑑 = −4
𝑎𝑛 = 𝑎1 + 𝑛 − 1 𝑑
𝑎20 = 17 + 20 − 1 − 4
𝑎20 = 17 + 19 − 4
𝑎20 = 17 + (−76)
𝒂𝟐𝟎 = −𝟓𝟗
Find the 20th term of the
arithmetic sequence
17,13, 9, …-59
17, 13, 9, 5, 1, -3, -7, -11,
-15, -19, -23, -27, -31, -35,
-39, -43, -47, -51, -55, -59
FINDING THE
NUMBER OF
TERMS ( n )
Example:

In the arithmetic
sequence -7, -4, -1, 2, 5,
…, which term is
44?
-7, -4, -1, 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17,
20, 23, 26, 29, 32, 35, 38, 41, 44 18th term of a18
 FINDING THE NUMBER(n) OF TERMS
In the arithmetic sequence -7, -4, -1, 2, 5, …,
which term is 44? GIVEN: 𝑎1 = −7, 𝑑 = 3 , 𝑎𝑛 = 44
𝑎𝑛 = 𝑎1 + 𝑛 − 1 𝑑
44 = −7 + 𝑛 − 1 3
44 = −7 + 3𝑛 − 3
44 = −10 + 3𝑛
44 + 10 = 3𝑛
54 3𝑛
=
3 3
18 = 𝒏
FINDING THE FIRST
TERM( a1 ) and THE
COMMON
DIFFRENCE ( d )
STEPS
1) Create two equations
2) Subtract Equation 1 from
Equation 2, v/v to find the
value of d
3) Substitute the value of d in
the first or second equation
to identify the value of a1
Example:
The fourth term of an arithmetic
sequence is 18 and the sixth term is 28.
Give the first term.
3, 8, 13, 18, 23, 28
FINDING THE FIRST TERM( a1 ) and THE COMMON DIFFRENCE ( d )
The fourth term of an arithmetic sequence is
18 and the sixth term is 28. Give the first term.
GIVEN: 𝑎4 = 18, 𝑎6 = 28 10 2𝑑
𝑎4 = 𝑎1 + 3𝑑 Equation1 =
2 2
𝑎6 = 𝑎1 + 5𝑑 Equation2 d=5
𝑎4 = 𝑎1 + 3𝑑
28= 𝑎1 + 5𝑑 18 = 𝑎1 + 3(5)
- 18= 𝑎1 + 3𝑑 18 = 𝑎1 + 15
10= 2d 18 − 15 = 𝑎1
𝟑 = 𝐚𝟏