Unit 2 Series and Mathematical Induction

LESSON 2.1. Review of Sequences and Series

SEQUENCES

A sequence is the range of some function whose domain is either the set of the first n positive
integers (finite sequence), or the set of all positive integers (infinite sequence).

A sequence is sometimes called a progression.

Arithmetic Sequence or Arithmetic Progression

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A sequence is arithmetic if the differences between consecutive terms are the same. So, the
sequence

𝑎1 , 𝑎2 , 𝑎3 , 𝑎4 , ⋯ , 𝑎𝑛 , ⋯

is arithmetic if there is a number d such that

𝑎2 − 𝑎1 = 𝑎3 − 𝑎2 = 𝑎4 − 𝑎3 = 𝑑.

The number 𝑑 is called the common difference of the arithmetic sequence.

Example: In the arithmetic sequence 9, 5, 1, −3, −7, ⋯, the common difference is −4and the
sixth term would be−11.

Exercise: For each of the following arithmetic sequence, find the common difference 𝑑 and the
term next to the last term being listed.
1) 4, 10, 16, 22, 28, ⋯
1 1
2) 2, 2 2 , 3, 3 2 , 4, ⋯

Finding the nth term of an Arithmetic Sequence

Let 𝑎1 be the first term and 𝑑 be the common difference in an arithmetic sequence. Then

𝑎2 = 𝑎1 + 𝑑 → 2nd term
𝑎3 = 𝑎2 + 𝑑 = (𝑎1 + 𝑑) + 𝑑 = 𝑎1 + 2𝑑 → 3rd term
𝑎4 = 𝑎3 + 𝑑 = (𝑎1 + 2𝑑) + 𝑑 = 𝑎1 + 3𝑑 → 4th term
⋮
𝑎𝑛 = 𝑎1 + (𝑛 − 1)𝑑 → nthterm

Example: If 𝑎1 = 4 and 𝑑 = 3, then the 20th term is𝑎20 = 4 + 19(3) = 61.

Exercises: 1. Find the 16th term of the arithmetic sequence 5, 8, 11, ⋯.

2. In the sequence 4, 7, 10, ⋯, what term is 301? (That is, find 𝑛 if 𝑎𝑛 = 301.)
Geometric Sequence or Geometric Progression
_____________________________________________________________
A sequence is geometric if the ratios of consecutive terms are the same. So, the sequence

𝑎1 , 𝑎2 , 𝑎3 , 𝑎4 , ⋯ , 𝑎𝑛 , ⋯

is geometric if there is a number r such that

𝑎2 𝑎 𝑎
𝑎1
= 𝑎3 = 𝑎4 = 𝑟.
2 3

The number 𝑟 is called the common ratio of the geometric sequence.

1
Example: In the geometric sequence 16, −8, 4, −2, ⋯, the common ratio is − 2 and the fifth
term would be 1.

Exercise: For each of the following geometric sequence, find the common ratio 𝑟 and the term
next to the last term being listed.
1. 2, −4, 8, −16, 32, ⋯
1 1 1
2. 1, 2 , 4 , 8 , ⋯

Finding the nth term of a Geometric Sequence

Let 𝑎1 be the first term and 𝑟 be the common ratio in a geometric sequence. Then

𝑎2 = 𝑎1 𝑟 → 2nd term
𝑎3 = 𝑎2 𝑟 = (𝑎1 𝑟)𝑟 = 𝑎1 𝑟 2 → 3rd term
𝑎4 = 𝑎3 𝑟 = (𝑎1 𝑟 2 )𝑟 = 𝑎1 𝑟 3 → 4th term
⋮
𝑎𝑛 = 𝑎1 𝑟 𝑛−1 → nthterm

Example: If 𝑎1 = 4 and 𝑟 = 3, then the 6th term is 𝑎6 = 4(35 ) = 972.

Exercises: 1. Find the 7th term of the geometricsequence 2, 10, 50, 250, ⋯.
2. Find the 9th term of the geometric sequence −16, 8, −4, 2, ⋯.

Factorial Notation

Some sequences in mathematics involve terms that are defined with special types of products
called factorials.
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If 𝑛 is a positive integer, 𝑛 factorial is defined as

𝑛! = 1 ∙ 2 ∙ 3 ∙ 4 ∙ ⋯ ∙ (𝑛 − 1) ∙ 𝑛.

As a special case, zero factorial is defined as 0! = 1.

Here are some values of 𝑛! for the first few nonnegative integers.

0! = 1
1! = 1
2! = 2 ∙ 1 = 2
3! = 3 ∙ 2 ∙ 1 = 6
4! = 4 ∙ 3 ∙ 2 ∙ 1 = 24
5! = 5 ∙ 4 ∙ 3 ∙ 2 ∙ 1 = 120

6!
Note that 5!is also equal to 5 ∙ 4! or 5 ∙ 4 ∙ 3! so that in computing ratio of factorials such as, ,
4!
6∙5∙4!
we can have: 4!
= 6 ∙ 5 = 30.

2𝑛
Example: Write the first 5 terms of the sequence given by 𝑎𝑛 = 𝑛!
. Begin with 𝑛 = 0.

20 1
Solution: 𝑎0 = 0!
=1=1

21 2
𝑎1 = 1!
=1=2

22 4
𝑎2 = = =2
2! 2

23 8 4
𝑎3 = 3!
=6=3

24 16 2 4 2
𝑎4 = = = 1, 2, 2, , 𝑎𝑛𝑑 are the first 5 terms.
4! 24 3 3 3

SERIES

Many applications involve the sum of the terms of a finite or an infinite sequence. Such a sum is
called a series. The sum of the first 𝑛 terms of the sequence is called a finite series or the partial
sum of the sequence while the sum of all the terms of the infinite sequence is called an infinite
series.

We will use 𝑆𝑛 to represent the sum of the first 𝑛 terms of a sequence (nth partial sum).

Sum of the first n terms of an Arithmetic Sequence

The sum of the terms of an arithmetic progression is called an arithmetic series.

Thus the sum of the first n terms of an arithmetic sequence is given by

𝑛
𝑆𝑛 = (𝑎 + 𝑎𝑛 )
2 1
or
𝑛
𝑆𝑛 = (2𝑎1 + (𝑛 − 1)𝑑)
2
Example: Find the sum of the first 100 natural numbers.

Solution: The integers from 1 to 100 form an arithmetic sequence that has 100 terms. So,
𝑆100 = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + ⋯ + 99 + 100.
𝑛
Now, 𝑆𝑛 = (𝑎1 + 𝑎𝑛 ).
2

100
Hence, 𝑆100 = 2
(1 + 100) = 50(501) = 5050.

Example: Find the sum of the first 150 terms of the arithmetic sequence
5, 16, 27, 38, 49, ⋯.

Solution: For this arithmetic sequence, we have 𝑎1 = 5 and 𝑑 = 16 − 5 = 11.

Using the equation (4), we have

150
𝑆150 = 2 (2(5) + (150 − 1)11) = 75(10 + 1639) = 123,675.

Application: (Seating Capacity) An auditorium has 20 rows of seats. There are 20 seats in the
first row, 21 seats in the second row, 22 seats in the third row, and so on. How many seats are
there in all 20 rows?

Solution: The numbers of seats in the 20 rows form an arithmetic sequence for which the first
term is 𝑎1 = 20 and the common difference is 𝑑 = 1.Using the equation (4),
20
𝑆20 = (2(20) + (20 − 1)1) = 10(40 + 19) = 590.
2

Exercises:
1. The sum of the first 15 terms of an arithmetic progression is 270. Find the first term
and the common difference if the fifteenth term is 39.
2. (Number of Logs) Logs are stacked in a pile, as shown in the figure below. The top
row has 15 logs and the bottom row has 24 logs. How many logs are there in the
stack?
 3. (Seating the Capacity) Each row in a small auditorium has two more seats than the
preceding row, as shown in the figure below. Find the seating capacity of the
auditorium if the front row seats 25 people and there are 15 rows of seats.

Sum of the first n terms of a Geometric Sequence

The sum of the terms in a geometric progression is called a geometric series.

Thus the sum of the first n terms of a geometric progression is given by

𝑎1 (𝑟 𝑛 − 1)
𝑆𝑛 =
𝑟−1

Example:Find the sum of the first 6 terms of the geometric progression

2, 6, 18, ⋯.

6
Solution: For this geometric sequence, we have 𝑎1 = 2 and 𝑟 = 2 = 3.

Using the equation, we have

2(36 −1)
𝑆6 = 3−1
= 36 − 1 = 728.

Exercises:
1. In a geometric progression, the 6th term is 96 and the common ratio is −2. Find the
sum of the first 6 terms of the progression.
2. Find the sum of the first 10th terms of the geometric series 4,2,1, ⋯.
3. A billionaire decided to celebrate Christmas as a thanksgiving by donating P1 on
December 1, P2 on December 2 and on every day that follows until December 25 to
the charity. The donations form a geometric sequence. What is the total amount of
donation?
LESSON 2.2.Sigma Notation

There is a convenient notation for the sum of the terms of a finite sequence. It is called
summation notation or sigma notation because it involves the use of the uppercase Greek
letter sigma, written as ∑.

The sum of the first 𝑛 terms of a sequence is represented by

𝑛

∑ 𝑎𝑖 = 𝑎1 + 𝑎2 + 𝑎3 + 𝑎4 + ⋯ + 𝑎𝑛
𝑖=1

Where 𝑖 is called the index of summation, 𝑛 is the upper limit of summation, and 1 is the
lower limit of summation.

Example: Consider the set of values 3, 5, 7 and 4. To write the sum the sum of these values in
compact form, we designate the first value as 𝑥1 , the second value as 𝑥2 , and so on. This means
that 𝑥1 = 3, 𝑥2 = 5, 𝑥3 = 7 and 𝑥4 = 4 and their sum can be written as:
4

∑ 𝑥𝑖 = 𝑥1 + 𝑥2 + 𝑥3 + 𝑥4 = 3 + 5 + 7 + 4 = 19.
𝑖=1
Furthermore,

∑ 𝑥𝑖 2 = 𝑥1 2 + 𝑥2 2 + 𝑥3 2 + 𝑥4 2 = 32 + 52 + 72 + 42 = 99
𝑖=1
and

4 2

(∑ 𝑥𝑖 ) = (3 + 5 + 7 + 4)2 = 361.
𝑖=1

Example:
1. ∑5𝑖=1 4𝑖 = 4(1) + 4(2) + 4(3) + 4(4) + 4(5)
= 4(1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5) = 4(15) = 60

2. ∑4𝑘=2(1 + 𝑘 2 ) = (1 + 22 ) + (1 + 32 ) + (1 + 42 ) = 5 + 10 + 17 = 32

Properties of Sums

1. ∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝑐 = 𝑐𝑛, 𝑐 is constant

2. ∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝑐𝑎𝑖 = 𝑐 ∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝑎𝑖 , 𝑐 is constant

3. ∑𝑛𝑖=1(𝑎𝑖 + 𝑏𝑖 ) = ∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝑎𝑖 + ∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝑏𝑖

Example:Let 𝑥1 = 5, 𝑥2 = 4, 𝑥3 = 8 and 𝑥4 = 6.
Also, let 𝑦1 = 1, 𝑦2 = −1, 𝑦3 = 2 and 𝑦4 = 3.
 Evaluate a) ∑4𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖 𝑦𝑖 and b) ∑4𝑖=1(𝑥𝑖 2 + 𝑦𝑖 2 )

Solution:
a) ∑4𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖 𝑦𝑖 = 𝑥1 𝑦1 + 𝑥2 𝑦2 + 𝑥3 𝑦3 + 𝑥4 𝑦4
= (5)(1) + (4)(−1) + (8)(2) + (6)(3) = 35

b) ∑4𝑖=1(𝑥𝑖 2 + 𝑦𝑖 2 ) = ∑4𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖 2 + ∑4𝑖=1 𝑦𝑖 2

= (52 + 42 + 82 + 62 ) + (12 + (−1)2 + 22 + 32 )
= (141) + (15) = 156

c ) ∑4𝑖=1 5𝑥𝑖

Exercises: Evaluate

1. ∑4𝑖=1(3𝑖 + 1)

2. ∑4𝑖=1(2 ∙ 3𝑖 )

1
3. ∑4𝑖=1 𝑖+1

LESSON 2.3.Mathematical Induction

LEARNING OUTCOME(S): At the end of the lesson, the learner is able to illustrate the Principle
of Mathematical Induction and apply mathematical induction in proving identities.

LESSON OUTLINE:
1. Proving Summation Identities
2. Proving Divisibility Statements

Mathematical Induction is a method used to prove statements that are true for all positive
integers. This method is based on the following fundamental axiom.

Axiom of Mathematical Induction

Suppose a set S of positive integers has the following two properties:
(i) S contains 1,
(ii) wheneverS contains a positive integer k, S also contains 𝑘 + 1.
Then S contains every positive integer.
We note that if S contains 1 and satisfies (ii) then it must contain 1 + 1 = 2. If S contains 2, then
it must contain 2 + 1 = 3. If S contains 3, then it must contain 3 + 1 = 4, and so on. Hence, if 𝑛
is any specific integer then 𝑛 is in Ssince we can proceed a step at a time, eventually reaching 𝑛.

Using the above axiom, the following fundamental principle of mathematical induction follows.

Principle of Mathematical Induction

Let 𝑛0 be an integer and 𝑃(𝑛) be a statement in terms of an integer 𝑛 for
each 𝑛 ≥ 𝑛0 , satisfying the following:
1. 𝑃(𝑛0 )is true
2. If 𝑘 ≥ 𝑛0 and 𝑃(𝑘) is true, then so is𝑃(𝑘 + 1).
Then, 𝑃(𝑛)is true for all𝑛 ≥ 𝑛0 .

Proof by mathematical induction consists the following steps:

1. Verify that 𝑃(𝑛0 )is true.
2. Assume that for some arbitrary integer 𝑘 ≥ 𝑛0 , 𝑃(𝑘)is true.
3. Prove that 𝑃(𝑘 + 1) is true.

Prove:∀𝑛 ∈ ℤ: 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + ⋯ + (2𝑛 − 1) = 𝑛2 .
Proof: (by Mathematical Induction)
1. Verify that 𝑃(𝑛0 ) is true
If 𝑛0 = 1, then 1 = 12 ⟹ 1 = 1. Therefore,𝑃(𝑛0 ) is true.

2. Assume that for 𝑘 ≥ 1, 𝑃(𝑘)is true.

𝑃(𝑘): 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + ⋯ + (2𝑘 − 1) = 𝑘 2
3. Prove that 𝑃(𝑘 + 1) is true.
𝑃(𝑘 + 1): 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + ⋯ + (2𝑘 − 1) + [2(𝑘 + 1) − 1] = (𝑘 + 1)2
𝑃(𝑘 + 1): 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + ⋯ + (2𝑘 − 1) + (2𝑘 + 1) = (𝑘 + 1)2 (𝑇𝐴𝑅𝐺𝐸𝑇)

To prove that 𝑃(𝑘 + 1) is true, use 𝑃(𝑘) by adding (2𝑘 + 1)both sides.
𝑃(𝑘): 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + ⋯ + (2𝑘 − 1) = 𝑘 2
1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + ⋯ + (2𝑘 − 1) + (2𝑘 + 1) = 𝑘 2 + (2𝑘 + 1)
= (𝑘 + 1)2
Hence, 𝑃(𝑘 + 1) is true.
Therefore, 𝑃(𝑛)is true for all positive integers 𝑛.

𝑛(𝑛+1)
Prove:∀𝑛 ∈ ℤ: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + ⋯ + 𝑛 = 2
.
Proof: (by Mathematical Induction)
1. Verify that 𝑃(𝑛0 ) is true
1(1+1)
If𝑛0 = 1, then1 = 2 ⇒ 1 = 1. Therefore, 𝑃(𝑛0 )is true.

2. Assume that for 𝑘 ≥ 1, 𝑃(𝑘)is true.

𝑘(𝑘 + 1)
𝑃(𝑘): 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + ⋯ + 𝑘 =
2
3. Prove that 𝑃(𝑘 + 1) is true.
(𝑘 + 1)[(𝑘 + 1) + 1]
𝑃(𝑘 + 1): 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + ⋯ + 𝑘 + (𝑘 + 1) =
2
(𝑘 + 1)(𝑘 + 2)
𝑃(𝑘 + 1): 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + ⋯ + 𝑘 + (𝑘 + 1) = (𝑇𝐴𝑅𝐺𝐸𝑇)
2

To prove that 𝑃(𝑘 + 1) is true, use 𝑃(𝑘) by adding (𝑘 + 1)both sides.

𝑘(𝑘 + 1)
𝑃(𝑘): 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + ⋯ + 𝑘 =
2
𝑘(𝑘 + 1)
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + ⋯ + 𝑘 + (𝑘 + 1) = + (𝑘 + 1)
2
𝑘(𝑘 + 1) + 2(𝑘 + 1)
=
2
(𝑘 + 1)(𝑘 + 2)
=
2

Hence, 𝑃(𝑘 + 1)is true.

Therefore, 𝑃(𝑛) is true for all positive integers 𝑛.

Prove: For all integers 𝑛 ≥ 1: 4𝑛 − 1 is divisible by 3.

Proof: (by Mathematical Induction)
1. Verify that 𝑃(𝑛0 ) is true.
If 𝑛0 = 1, then 41 − 1 = 3 which is divisible by 3. Hence, 𝑃(𝑛0 )is true.

2. Assume that for 𝑘 ≥ 1, 𝑃(𝑘)is true.

𝑃(𝑘): 4𝑘 − 1 is divisible by 3
By definition of divisibility,

4𝑘 − 1 = 3𝑚, for some 𝑚 ∈ ℤ

4𝑘 = 3𝑚 + 1
3. Prove that 𝑃(𝑘 + 1) is true.
𝑃(𝑘 + 1): 4𝑘+1 − 1is divisible by 3
We need to show that ∃𝑛 ∈ ℤ such that 4𝑘+1 − 1 = 3𝑛.

Now, 4𝑘+1 − 1 = 4 ∙ 4𝑘 − 1
= 4(3𝑚 + 1) − 1 = 12𝑚 + 3 = 3(4𝑚 + 1) = 3𝑛, 𝑛 = 4𝑚 + 1 ∈ ℤ
Hence, 𝑃(𝑘 + 1)is true.
Thus, 4𝑛 − 1 is divisible by 3 for all positive integers 𝑛.