Year 9 :: Sequences II

Dr J Frost (jfrost@tiffin.kingston.sch.uk)
www.drfrostmaths.com

Last modified: 19th October 2015

Teacher Guidance
Possible lesson structure:
Lesson 1: Linear Sequences Recap and generating sequences
from formulae
Go
Lesson 2: Term-to-term vs Position-to-term and Geometric
Sequences >
Lesson 3: Quadratic Sequences Go
Lesson 4: Levelled Sequences Activity >
Lesson 5 : Sequence Proofs Go
>

Go
>

(Teacher pet peeve: I strongly advise against teaching ‘0 th term’ to identify the
constant in linear sequences – it generalises poorly to other types of sequence, and
avoids students understanding what the  term in their formula is actually doing)
RECAP: Linear Sequences

4, 9, 14, 19, 24, 29, …

The coefficient of  is
the difference between
 term of sequence
th
the numbers.

= 5? − ?1
𝑛
𝑢
𝑛
 means the position
in the sequence, so
for the first term, .
The idea of ‘adjusting’ an initial formula

𝑛
1 2 3 4 5
2 5 8 11 14…
𝑛
𝑢
3? 3 6 9 ?12 15 How would we
𝑛
start the formula?

Adjustmen -1 -1 -1? -1 -1 What do we need

to add/adjust by?
t
We’re basically using an approach of starting
Therefore formula: the formula with something sensible (here ),
seeing what sequence this would give us,
 ? and ‘adjusting’ appropriately. For linear
sequences a full written method like this is
slight overkill, but this is what should be
going on in your head.
Quickfire Examples
Find formulae for the th term of each of these sequences:
(in your head)

  ?
 
  ?
 
?

?
Terminology
A linear sequence (or ‘arithmetic sequence’) is one where
the difference between terms is constant. 
 means the th
 term in the sequence.(often  or )

If we’re currently considering the th ?

𝑛
−1

𝑈
term, how would we refer to the
term before that?

This is the ‘position’.

 1 2 3 4 5 6
…
𝟐
𝟓
𝟖
𝟏
𝟏
𝟏
𝟒
𝟏
𝟕


This is the ‘term’.

i.e. The term at the 4th position is 11.
Going the other way
We can see how to find the th term formula for a linear sequence. But you were also
previously required to go the other way: generate a sequence from a (potentially non-
linear) formula.


?

 ?

Broculator Tip: To generate a

sequence:
Check Your Understanding: Press Mode then TABLE.
Enter your formula (instead of X instead
 of n, using the ALPHA key to get X)
Press =. Then use 1 for ‘start’ (i.e. your
 ? first value of ), 10 for ‘end’ (i.e. you want
10 terms) and 1 for ‘step’ ( increases by 1
each time). Press =.
To reset, press MODE then ‘COMP’.
Exercise 1
The 3rd term of a linear sequence is 17. The
Determine the formula for the th term of each 4 45th term is 269. Determine the formula for
1 sequence. Hence find the 300th term for each sequence the nth term.
(i.e. ) 
 Two sequences have the formulae  and . A?
 ? new sequence with formula  is formed by the
 ☠ numbers which appear in both  and .
 ? 1 Determine .
?
Find the first five terms of the sequences with the
following (non-linear) equations:


 ? Whatever the first number is that

coincides, we’ll see it 21 later because
 LCM(7,3)=21. Thus we know . It’s then
2  ?
simply a case of identifying which number
this is (2).
 Put the sequences in order of the speed/rate
?
Find the formula for the th term of the following at which they ‘grow’, the slowest growing
sequences. first, giving a reason for your order. It may help
 ? ☠ to think what happens as  increases by 1 each time.
 ? 2 


?
3
? 1 is the slowest as it does not grow at all (1, 1, 1, 1, …).  is next as the square root causes

? ?
the sequence to gradually grow slower over time.  grows by 1 each time. grows by  each
time (as ) which means the difference increases by a constant amount each time (in this
case 2). is next because the numbers become 3 times larger each time, meaning the
? difference of the difference increases unlike . is next because the scale factor increases
by 1 each time, whereas for  the scale factor is constant (i.e. 3). is last because the scale

? factor doubles each time, whereas for  it only increased by 1.

Term-to-term and position-to-term formulae

1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, …

Position-to-term
formula
We’ve previous seen how we can use the position  to determine the term . This is
known as a position-to-term formula:


Term-to-term formula
However, we can also get the th term of the sequence by thinking of a rule to
get it from the previous term(s)…
Previous term

?
Why do you think
we need this?
Starter Investigation

Describe these sequences.

Formula based on Formula based on position 

previous terms

 ? ?
 =2 +1

𝑛


𝑢
𝑛

? Ermm…. ?
5 ( ) ( )
1 1+ 5 1− 5
  = −

𝑛
𝑢
2 2

𝑛
𝑛
 ? =2 ?

𝑛
𝑢
𝑛


Bro Tip: This is an exam

favourite!
Geometric Sequences
✏ A geometric sequence is one in which we multiply by a constant each time.
(In contrast to an arithmetic sequence where we add each time)
1 2 3 4 5
𝑛
4 8 16 32 64…
𝑛
𝑢
2? 2 4 8 ?16 32 How could we start
𝑛
the formula to get this
doubling pattern?

Adjustmen 2 2 2 2 2? What do we need

to adjust by?
t

Therefore formula:
For geometric sequences where
 ? we’re multiplying by  each time,
start the formula as .
Another Example

1 2 3 4 5
𝑛
2 6 18 54 162…
𝑛
𝑢
3? 3 9 27 ? 81 243
𝑛
Adjustmen  … ?
t
Therefore formula:

 ? ? For geometric sequences where

we’re multiplying by  each time,
start the formula as .
Test Your Understanding


?

If you’ve got that…


?
Exercise 2
For each of the following determine: 
(a) the position-to-term formula and
5
(b) the term-to-term formula, stating any
,

?
initial terms required.
e.g. For 
 ?
,
(a) , 
(b)  6
 ?
,
 ?
1  A sequence has the term-to-term formula 
,

? 7
?
where . Find the position-to-term formula.
 ? 

,

,
?
2  (Term-to-term formula not required)
 ? 8 
, ? ,

 ?
3 
, ? ☠
 ? 1
?
4
? ☠ ?
2
?
Second Difference

What do you notice about the difference?

3, 8, 15, 24, 35, …

Working out 

1 2 3 4 5
𝑛
STEP 1:
Write out  and 

3 8 15 24 35
𝑛
𝑢
STEP 2: Work
out second
+5 +7 9 difference.
2 2 STEP 3: Halve
this to find

1 2 1 4 9 16 25 coefficient of 
𝑛
term.
STEP 4: Work out
Adjust +2 +4 +6 +8 +10 what we need to add
to get from this to
correct term. Work
out its formula.
2
= +2
𝑛
𝑢
𝑛
𝑛
More Examples
2
=2 + 1?

𝑛


𝑢
𝑛

2
 =3 + 2? − 1

𝑛
𝑢
𝑛
𝑛
2
=2 − ?+ 3

𝑛
𝑢
𝑛
𝑛
Exercise 2

1   ?
2   ?
3   ?
4   ?
  ?
5  
 
6 ?
 
7 ?
?
8
Levelled Sequences Activity

Work alone or in pairs.

Complete all Level 1 questions before checking your
answers.
If correct, you can proceed to Level 2 and so on.
Sequence Proofs
In a sequence each number is the sum of the two previous terms.
If the 3rd term is 5 and the 5th term is 6, what is the 6th term?
(Hint: we don’t know the first two terms, so what should we do?)

Let  be the first term and  the?second.

Then the terms are:

Thus:

The 5th term is then .

The key point therefore is that we have generically

represented unknown terms (usually the initial terms which
later terms depend on) using variables, in order to reason
about later terms.
Test Your Understanding
Each term in a sequence is formed by taking the previous term and subtracting the
term before that.
The fourth term of the sequence is 10 and the sum of the first four terms is 20.
Determine the 5th term.

First five terms: ?


Therefore:

The 5th term is therefore:

Exercise 4 (See printed sheet)

Let the first two terms of a sequence be  and . [IMC 2015 Q14] In a sequence, each term
1 3
Each term thereafter is the sum of the after the first two terms is the mean of all
previous 2 terms. the terms which come before that term.
The first term is 8 and the tenth term is 26.
a) Find an expression for the 5th term What is the second term?A 17 B 18C
and 6th term, each in terms of  and . 44 D 52 E 68
b) If the 5th term is 5 and the 6th term Solution: C
7, solve your equations [IMC 2012 Q17] The first term of a
simultaneously to determine  and . sequence of positive integers is 6. The
?
other terms in the sequence follow these
(a)  and  (b)  ?
[IMC 2002 Q11] The Fibonacci sequence 1, 1, rules: * if a term is even then divide it by 2
2, 3, 5, 8, 13, … begins with two 1s, and each 4 to obtain the next term; * if a term is odd
2
later number in the sequence is the sum of then multiply it by 5 and subtract 1 to
the previous two numbers. Other Fibonacci- obtain the next term.For which values of 
like sequences can be constructed by starting is the th term equal to ?A 10 only
with any two numbers  and  (not necessarily 1 B 13 only C 16 onlyD 10 and 13
and 1) and using the same rule for creating only E 13 and 16 only
the other numbers in the sequence. What is Solution: E
the first term of the Fibonacci-like sequence
whose second term is 4 and whose fifth term
is 22?A 2 B 3 C 4 D 5 E 6
Solution: D

?
?
Exercise 4 (See printed sheet)

5
[Cayley 2013 Q3] Consider sequences of 7 [Hamilton 2004 Q4] The first two terms of a
positive integers for which both the following sequence are the numbers 1, 2. From then on,
conditions are true: (a) each term after the each term is obtained by adding 1 to the
second term is the sum of the two preceding previous term and then dividing by the term
terms; (b) the eighth term is 260. How many before that. Thus the third term is obtained by
such sequences are there? adding 1 to the second term and then dividing
Two. First two terms could be 13, by the first term.(a) Write down the first five
12 or 26, 4. terms.(b) Calculate the sixtieth term.(c) What
[Cayley 2004 Q4] The first two terms of a happens if the other non-zero numbers are
?
sequence are the numbers 1, 2. From then on, chosen for the first two terms, but the rule for
calculating the next term remains the same?
each term is obtained by dividing the previous
6 term by the term before that. Thus the third (a) 1, 2, 3, 2, 1 (b) 1 (c)
term is obtained by dividing the second term, Let first two terms be . Then
2, by the first term, 1.(a) Write down the first sequence is . Since each term is
five terms.(b) Calculate the fiftieth term.(c) based only on previous two
What happens if other non-zero numbers are terms, we have proven the
chosen for the first two terms, but the rule for
calculating the next term remains the same?
?
sequence repeats every five
(a) 1, 2, 2, 1,  (b) 2 (c) If first terms.
two terms  then sequence is 
which repeats every 6 terms.

?
Exercise 4 (See printed sheet)

[Maclaurin 2007 Q1] The first term c of a 9

[Hamilton 2010 Q3] The first and second
8 terms of a sequence are added to make the
sequence is not equal to 1. Each time after
the first is equal to “(3 more than the third term. Adjacent odd-numbered terms
previous term) divided by (1 less than the are added to make the next even-numbered
previous term)”.(a) What values of c make term, for example,
the sequence recur forever, in the form c, c, First term + third term = fourth
c, c, c, …?(b) Is it possible for any term of term
the sequence to be equal to 1? And third term + fifth term = sixth
Solution: term
(a)  or  Likewise, adjacent even-numbered terms are
added to make the next odd-numbered term,
(b) . Then  which clearly has no for example,
solutions. ? Second term + fourth term = fifth
term
Given that the seventh term equals the
?
eighth term, what is the value of the sixth
term?
1
Solution: 0
[Kangaroo Grey 2013 Q22] The first five terms
0
of a sequence are 1, -1, -1, 1, -1. After the
fifth term, every term is equal to the product
of the two preceding terms. For example, the
sixth term is equal to the product of the
fourth term and the fifth term. What is the
sum of the first 2013 terms of the sequence?
A -1006 B -671 C 0 D 671 E
1007
Solution: A
Exercise 4 (See printed sheet)

1 [Kangaroo 2002 Q25] The sequence  is

1 the longest sequence of positive integers,
with first term 1 and last term 1000,
having the property that each term after 
is the sum of all the previous terms. What
is the value of ?A 124 B 125 C 249
D 224 E 120
Solution: B
[Kangaroo Pink 2004 Q25] Owl wrote all
the whole numbers from 1 to 10 000 on a
blackboard.?After that he erased the
numbers which are neither divisible by 5
1 nor by 11. What was the 2004th term of
2 the remaining sequence?A 1000 B
5000 C 6545 D 7348 E 10
000
Solution: D

?
Year 9 Possible Extension
Lesson
Dr J Frost (jfrost@tiffin.kingston.sch.uk)
The general form of...

A linear (“first difference”) sequence:

 ?

A quadratic (“second difference”) sequence:

 ?
Why does the first difference...
...become the number on front of
the n?

Current Next Term

Term
+? 1

𝑛
𝑛
Position
Term + +? +
𝑎
𝑛
𝑏
𝑎
𝑛
𝑎
𝑏
a?
Why does the second difference...
...get halved then put on front of
n2?

Current Next Term Term after

Term that
+
? 1 +? 2

𝑛
𝑛
𝑛
Position
Term 2+ + 2+2 + ? + + 2 ++4 + ?+ 4 +2

𝑎
𝑛
𝑎
𝑛
𝑏
𝑛
𝑎
𝑏
𝑎
𝑛
𝑏
𝑛
𝑐
𝑎
𝑛
𝑎
𝑛
𝑏
𝑛
𝑎
𝑏
𝑐
2 +? + 2 +?3 +

𝑎
𝑛
𝑎
𝑏
𝑎
𝑛
𝑎
𝑏
2?
𝑎
Since the second difference is  and the coefficient of  is , we can see
halving the second difference gives us the coefficient of .
Finding a formula using simultaneous equations
You’re given the first three terms of a quadratic (second difference) sequence:

We know that we can use:

What equations can we form?

 ?



Solve by elimination:

?
Test Your Understanding

1, 4, 13, ...
2
= 3 − 6? + 4
𝑛
𝑢
𝑛
𝑛
Oxford Maths Admissions Exam - 2009

x4 = 10, x5 ?
= 15

? C = 0.5
A = 0, B = 0.5,

n = 40 ?
Further Exercises
Solve the following by forming simultaneous
equations.
1 Given that , ,  and that the formula for the sequence is
, form simultaneous equations, and hence determine  and .

?
A line with equation  goes through the points . Determine ,  and .

2 A line with equation  goes through the points  and . Determine ,  and 

?
A line has equation , where  is a constant. It passes through the point . Determine the -value
when .
3 
By forming suitable simultaneous equations (or otherwise), determine the formula for the nth
term of the sequence… ?


4

?
☠
Prove that the coefficient of the  term in a
☠
cubic sequence is  of the third difference.
? ☠ More generally, if the th difference was
constant, what do you think the coefficient of
the  term will be? (☠☠☠ Prove it.)