PROGRESSION
A progression is a special type of sequence for which it is possible to obtain a formula for the
nth term. The Arithmetic Progression is the most commonly used sequence in maths with easy-
to-understand formulas.
Definition 1: A mathematical sequence in which the difference between two consecutive
terms is always a constant and it is abbreviated as Arithmetic Progression.
Definition 2: An arithmetic sequence or progression is defined as a sequence of numbers in
which for every pair of consecutive terms, the second number is obtained by adding a fixed
number to the first one.
The fixed number that must be added to any term of an AP to get the next term is known
as the common difference of the AP. Now, let us consider the sequence, 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16,…
It is considered as an arithmetic sequence (progression) with a common difference 3.
Notation in Arithmetic Progression
In AP, we will come across some main terms, which are denoted as:
• First term (a)
• Common difference (d)
• nth Term (an)
• Sum of the first n terms (Sn)
All three terms represent the property of Arithmetic Progression. We will learn more about
these three properties in the next section.
First Term of AP
The AP can also be written in terms of common differences, as follows;
a, a + d, a + 2d, a + 3d, a + 4d, ………. ,a + (n – 1) d
where “a” is the first term of the progression.
Common Difference in Arithmetic Progression
In this progression, for a given series, the terms used are the first term, the common
difference and nth term. Suppose, a1, a2, a3, ……………., an is an AP, then; the common
difference “ d ” can be obtained as;
d = a2 – a1 = a3 – a2 = ……. = an – an – 1
Where “d” is a common difference. It can be positive, negative or zero.
Arithmetic Progression Formulas
There are two major formulas we come across when we learn about Arithmetic Progression,
which is related to:
• The nth term of AP
• Sum of the first n terms
nth Term of an AP
The formula for finding the n-th term of an AP is:
an = a + (n − 1) × d
where
a = First term
d = Common difference
n = number of terms
an = nth term
Example 1: Find the nth term of AP: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…., an, if the number of terms are 15.
Solution: Given, AP: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…., an
n=15
By the formula we know, an = a+(n-1)d
First-term, a =1
Common difference, d=2-1 =1
Therefore, an = a15 = 1+(15-1)1 = 1+14 = 15
Note: The behaviour of the sequence depends on the value of a common difference.
Example 2:
Given sequence is 2, 5, 8, 11, 14,…
Here, a = 2 and d = 3
d = 5 – 2 = 8 – 5 = 11 – 8 = 3
First term is a = 2
Second term is a + d = 2 + 3 = 5
Third term is a + 2d = 2 + 6 = 8 and so on.
Example 3:
Find the 11th term of the AP: 24, 20, 16,…
Solution
Given a = 24, n = 11, d = 20 – 24 = – 4
an = a + (n - 1)d
a11 = 24 + (11-1) – 4
= 24 + (10) – 4
=24 – 40
= -16
Sum of n Terms of AP
For an AP, the sum of the first n terms can be calculated if the first term, common difference
and the total terms are known. The formula for the arithmetic progression sum is explained
below:
Consider an AP consisting “n” terms.
Sn = n/2[2a + (n − 1) × d]
Example 1: Let us take the example of adding natural numbers up to 15 numbers.
AP = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
Given, a = 1, d = 2-1 = 1 and an = 15
Now, by the formula we know;
Sn = n/2[2a + (n − 1) × d]
S15 = 15/2[2.1+(15-1).1]
= 15/2[2+14]
= 15/2 [16]
= 15 x 8
= 120
Hence, the sum of the first 15 natural numbers is 120.
Example 2:
If Radha save some money every month in her piggy bank, then how much money will
be there in her piggy bank after 12 months, if the money is in the sequence of 100,
150, 200, 250, ….respectively?
Solution
Given sequence is-
100, 150, 200, 250, …
a = 100 (first term)
d = 50 (common difference)
n = 12 (as we have to calculate money of 12 months)
Now we will put the values in the formula
Geometric Progression
A Geometric Progression is a sequence of numbers in which we get each term by
multiplying or dividing a particular number to the previous term, except the first term.
The ratio between every term to the next term is constant.
n th term of the Geometric Sequence
an = a1 r n-1
A geometric progression (GP) is a progression the ratio of any term and its previous term is
equal to a fixed constant. It is a special type of progression. In order to get the next term in
the geometric progression, we have to multiply the current term with a fixed number known
as the common ratio, every time, and if we want to find the preceding term in the progression,
we just have to divide the term with the same common ratio. Example: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, ... is a
GP having a common ratio of 2.
The geometric progressions can be finite or infinite. Its common ratio can be negative or
positive. Here we shall learn more about the GP formulas, and the different types of
geometric progressions.
Geometric Progression Formula
Here are the formulas related to geometric progressions. Consider a geometric progression a,
ar, ar2, ar3, ...
• nth term: an = arn - 1 (or) an = r an - 1
• Sum of the first n terms: Sn = a(rn - 1) / (r - 1) when r ≠ 1 and Sn = na when r = 1.
• Sum of infinite terms: S∞ = a / (1 - r) when |r| < 1 and the sum is NOT defined
when |r| ≥ 1.
where
• a is the first term
• r is the common ratio
• n is the number of the term which we want to find.
• Question 2: In a certain culture, the count of bacteria gets doubled after every hour.
There were 3 bacteria in the culture initially. What would be the total count of
bacteria at the end of the 6th hour?
• Solution
• Here, the number of bacteria forms a geometric progression where the first term a is 3
and the common ratio r is 2.
• So, the total number of bacteria at the end of the 6th hour will be the sum of the first 6
terms of this progression given by S6.
• S6 = 3(26−1)/(2−1)
• =3(64−1)/1
• =3×63
• =189
• Example 3: Find the following sum of the terms of this infinite geometric
progression: 1/3, 1/9, 1/27... ∞
• Solution
• We have:
• a = 1/3, |r| = 1/3 and |r|< 1
• Hence, using the formula for the sum of infinite geometric progression:
• S = a/(1-r)
• = (1/3)(1 - 1/3)
• = 1/2
• Question: Check whether the given sequence, 9, 3, 1, 1/3, 1/9…… is in geometrical
progression.
Solution: Let us find the ratio of the consecutive terms, a1= 9 and a2 = 3. So,
• a2/a1 = 3/9 = 1/3
= a3/a2 = 1/3
• Since the ratio of the consecutive terms of the given sequence is 1/3, a fixed number, this
sequence is in geometrical progression.
Write down the 8th term in the Geometric Progression 1, 3, 9, ...
Answer
Find the number of terms in the geometric progression 6, 12, 24, ..., 1536
Find the sum of each of the geometric series