Sequences, Series, Sigma Notation and Binomial Theorem

Types of Sequences

1. Arithmetic Progression: a, a + d, a + 2d, … , a + (n-1)d, …

2. Geometric Progression: a, ar, ar2, … , arn-1, …
3. Others: u1, u2, u3, … , un, … in general.

Notation

Notation Meaning
a First term of a sequence, particularly in an AP or GP.
d Common difference of an AP.
r Common ratio of a GP.
Tn or un nth term of sequence.
Sn Sum of the first n terms of a series. This notation is used particularly in the
context of AP and GP before the introduction of the sigma notation. The
series in context need not necessarily be an AP or GP.

Formulae

Description AP GP
nth term Tn = a + (n − 1)d Tn = ar n −1

Sum of the first n

Sn =
n
(2a + ( n − 1)d ) a(1 − r n )
terms Sn = is applicable for all
2 1− r
values of r ≠ 1
n
Sn = (a + Tn ) where
2
Tn = a + (n − 1)d is the last
term or nth term.
Sum to infinity - a
Sn = which exists provided
1− r
−1 < r < 1
Common d = Tn − Tn −1 r = Tn ÷ Tn −1
difference/ratio
Mean Arithmetic mean of x and y is Geometric mean of x and y is
x+ y ± xy .
.
2
Sequences in general (AP, GP or otherwise).
Description Using the notation Sn and Tn Using the sigma notation
Sum of the first n S n = T1 + T2 + T3 + … + Tn n

terms ∑ u r = u1 + u 2 + u3 + … + u n
r =1

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 nth term Tn = S n − S n −1 n n −1
un = ∑ ur − ∑ ur
r =1 r =1

First term T1 = S1 1
u1 = ∑ u r
r =1

Sum from the S n − S m = Tm +1 + Tm + 2 + … + Tn n m

(m+1)th term to ∑u − ∑u
r =1
r
r =1
r = u m +1 + u m + 2 + … + u n
the nth term

Example 1: A geometric series has first term 1 and common ratio 2. Find the least value
of n for which the sum of the first n terms exceeds the value 1000.

Example 2: The sum of the first 50 terms of an arithmetic series is twice that of the sum
of the terms from the 26th to the 50th inclusive. Find the common difference of this series
in terms of a where a is the first term. Find the minimum number of terms required for
the sum to exceed 1300a.

Some Other Properties of Sigma Notation

n n n
1. ∑ (a r + br ) = ∑ a r + ∑ br .
r =1 r =1 r =1
n n
2. ∑ ka
r =1
r = k ∑ a r where k is a constant.
r =1
n
⎛ n ⎞⎛ n ⎞
3. ∑
r =1
a b
r r ≠ ⎜ ∑ r ⎟⎜ ∑ br ⎟ in general.
a
⎝ r =1 ⎠⎝ r =1 ⎠

Some Standard Results

n
1
1. ∑ r = 2 n(n + 1) (You are expected to know this result because it is an AP)
r =1
n
1
2. ∑r
r =1 6
2
=
n(n + 1)(2n + 1)
n
1
3. ∑ r 3 = n 2 (n + 1) 2
r =1 4

Remarks: Results for (2) and (3) will be given to you in the question if it is needed.

2n n
1
Example 3: Express that ∑ r (r + 1) in terms of n given that
r = n +1
∑r
r =1
2
=
6
n(n + 1)(2n + 1) .

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 Method of Differences

n
If a r , the general term of a sigma notation ∑a
r =1
r , can be expressed in the form

f ( r + 1) − f ( r ) , then we have

∑ [ f (r + 1) − f (r )]
r =1
n n
= ∑ f ( r + 1) − ∑ f ( r )
r =1 r =1
= [ f (2) + f (3) + f (4) + … f (n) + f (n + 1)] − [ f (1) + f (2) + f (3) + f (4) + + f ( n)]

= f ( n + 1) − f (1)

1 A B
Example 4: Express in the form + . Hence, or otherwise, find
(r + 1)(r + 2) r +1 r + 2
n ∞
1 1
∑
r =1 ( r + 1)( r + 2)
in terms of n and deduce the value of ∑
r =1 ( r + 1)( r + 2)
.

Binomial Theorem

There are 2 formulae with 2 different conditions and applications.

⎛n⎞ ⎛n⎞ ⎛n⎞ ⎛ n ⎞ n −1

1. ( x + y )n
= x n + ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ x n −1 y + ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ x n − 2 y 2 + … + ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ x n − r y r + … + ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ xy + y n
⎝1⎠ ⎝ 2⎠ ⎝r⎠ ⎝ n − 1⎠
n(n − 1) 2 n(n − 1)(n − 2) 3 n(n − 1)(n − 2)… (n − r + 1) r
2. (1 + x ) = 1 + nx + x + x +… + x +…
n

2! 3! r!
where x < 1 (i.e. − 1 < x < 1 )

The first formula is used to expand the sum of 2 terms taken to the power of a positive
integer n. Without this formula, it is still possible to expand ( x + y ) n slowly, step by step,
although it would be silly to do so.

The second formula gives us an infinite series. The term (1 + x) n has a power n which
can take values that are both positive and negative. Unlike the first formula where the
power n is only restricted to positive integer, the power n in the second formula can be a
1 3
fraction such as or − . This is definitely a much more powerful formula but the
2 2
condition for the application of the formula is much more stringent. One of the 2 terms in
the bracket has to be a 1 and the range of the other term x in the bracket has to be in the
range from − 1 to 1 (i.e. − 1 < x < 1 ).

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 Example 5: Use the binomial theorem to find the first four non-zero terms of the series
1
expansion of ( 4 + 3 x ) 2 in (a) ascending powers of x, (b) descending powers of x, giving
the range of x in each case.

1
We can use the infinite geometric series 1 + r + r 2 + … + r n + … = = (1 − r ) −1 to
1− r
expand (1 + x ) −1 easily simply by equating r = − x .

Example 6: Use the binomial theorem to find the first four non-zero terms of the series
expansion of (4 + x) −1 in (a) ascending powers of x and (b) descending powers of x,
giving the range of x in each case.

Using Partial Fraction in conjunction with Binomial Theorem

4x 2 + 2x + 6 A Bx + C
Example 7: Let f ( x) = . Express in the form + and find
(2 + x)(1 + 2 x )
2
2 + x 1 + 2x 2
the series expansion of f(x) in ascending powers of x up to and including the terms in x 4 .
Find the coefficient of x 2 n in terms of n.

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