1. To illustrate an Arithmetic Sequence.
2. To distinguish whether the given
sequence is Arithmetic or not.
3. To find the nth or missing terms of an
arithmetic sequence.
Identify which among the sequences has a common
difference.
Arithmetic Sequence is a sequence where
every term after the first term is obtained
by adding a constant to the preceding term.
Arithmetic sequence can also be called as
arithmetic progression.
The number added to any term to get the
next term is the difference between two
successive terms called as the common
difference (𝒅).
Tell whether each sequence is an arithmetic
sequence or not. If it is an arithmetic progression,
identify the next four terms.
Arithmetic Sequence
1. 4, 10, 16, 22, 28, … 𝑑=6
𝒂𝟔 = 𝟑𝟒 𝒂𝟕 = 𝟒𝟎 𝒂𝟖 = 𝟒𝟔 𝒂𝟗 = 𝟓𝟐
Tell whether each sequence is an arithmetic
sequence or not. If it is an arithmetic progression,
identify the next four terms.
Arithmetic Sequence
2. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 𝑑=5
𝑎7 = 35 𝑎8 = 40 𝑎9 = 45 𝑎10 = 50
Tell whether each sequence is an arithmetic
sequence or not. If it is an arithmetic progression,
identify the next four terms.
Arithmetic Sequence
3. 10, 7, 4, 1, -2, -5, … 𝑑 = −3
𝒂𝟕 = −𝟖 𝒂𝟖 = −𝟏𝟏
𝒂𝟗 = −𝟏𝟒 𝒂𝟏𝟎 = −𝟏𝟕
Tell whether each sequence is an arithmetic
sequence or not. If it is an arithmetic progression,
identify the next four terms.
4. 6, 18, 20, 29, 32, …
Not arithmetic sequence
Tell whether each sequence is an arithmetic
sequence or not. If it is an arithmetic progression,
identify the next four terms.
𝟏 𝟓 𝟒 𝟏𝟏
Arithmetic Sequence
5. , , , ,… 1
𝟑 𝟔 𝟑 𝟔 𝑑=
2
𝟕 𝟏𝟕 𝟏𝟎 𝟐𝟑
𝒂𝟓 = 𝒂𝟔 = 𝒂𝟕 = 𝒂𝟖 =
𝟑 𝟔 𝟑 𝟔
𝒂𝟏 , 𝒂𝟐 , 𝒂𝟑 , 𝒂𝟒 , … 𝒂𝒏
𝒂𝟏
𝒂𝟏 + 𝒅 = 𝒂𝟐
𝒂𝟐 + 𝒅 = 𝒂𝟑 𝒂𝟏 + 𝒅 + 𝒅 = 𝒂𝟏 + 𝟐𝒅 = 𝒂𝟑
𝒂𝟑 + 𝒅 = 𝒂𝟒 𝒂𝟏 + 𝟐𝒅 + 𝒅 = 𝒂𝟏 + 𝟑𝒅 = 𝒂𝟒
If we are looking for the 𝒏𝒕𝒉 term, what will be the formula?
𝒕𝒉
The 𝒏 term of an arithmetic sequence is given
by:
𝒂𝒏 = 𝒂𝟏 + 𝒏 − 𝟏 𝒅
where 𝒂𝟏 is the first term, 𝒂𝒏 is the 𝒏𝒕𝒉 term,
and 𝒅 is the common difference.
1. Consider the sequence 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, …
Identify the 35th term of the sequence.
Sol’n. Using the formula: 𝒂𝒏 = 𝒂𝟏 + 𝒏 − 𝟏 𝒅
Given: 𝒂𝟑𝟓 = 𝟑 + 𝟑𝟓 − 𝟏 (𝟑)
𝒂𝟏 = 𝟑 𝒂𝟑𝟓 = 𝟑 + (𝟑𝟒)(𝟑)
𝒅=𝟑 𝒂𝟑𝟓 = 𝟏𝟎𝟓
𝒏 = 𝟑𝟓 ∴The 35th term is 105.
2. Find the 30th term of the arithmetic sequence
10, 13, 16, 19, …
Sol’n. Using the formula: 𝒂𝒏 = 𝒂𝟏 + 𝒏 − 𝟏 𝒅
Given: 𝒂𝟑𝟎 = 𝟏𝟎 + 𝟑𝟎 − 𝟏 (𝟑)
𝒂𝟏 = 𝟏𝟎 𝒂𝟑𝟎 = 𝟏𝟎 + (𝟐𝟗)(𝟑)
𝒅=𝟑 𝒂𝟑𝟎 = 𝟗𝟕
𝒏 = 𝟑𝟎 ∴The 30th term is 97.
3. Find the 15th term of an arithmetic sequence
whose first term is 12 and the common
difference is 7.
Sol’n. Using the formula: 𝒂𝒏 = 𝒂𝟏 + 𝒏 − 𝟏 𝒅
Given: 𝒂𝟏𝟓 = 𝟏𝟐 + 𝟏𝟓 − 𝟏 (𝟕)
𝒂𝟏 = 𝟏𝟐 𝒂𝟏𝟓 = 𝟏𝟐 + (𝟏𝟒)(𝟕)
𝒅=𝟕 𝒂𝟏𝟓 = 𝟏𝟏𝟎
𝒏 = 𝟏𝟓 ∴The 15th term is 110.
4. What is the 36th term of the arithmetic
sequence 22, 18, 14, 10, … ?
Sol’n. Using the formula: 𝒂𝒏 = 𝒂𝟏 + 𝒏 − 𝟏 𝒅
Given: 𝒂𝟑𝟔 = 𝟐𝟐 + 𝟑𝟔 − 𝟏 (−𝟒)
𝒂𝟏 = 𝟐𝟐 𝒂𝟑𝟔 = 𝟐𝟐 + (𝟑𝟓)(−𝟒)
𝒅 = −𝟒 𝒂𝟑𝟔 = 𝟐𝟐 + (−𝟏𝟒𝟎) = 𝟐𝟐 − 𝟏𝟒𝟎
𝒏 = 𝟑𝟔 𝒂𝟑𝟔 = −𝟏𝟏𝟖
∴The 36th term is -118.
5. Find the 25th term of the arithmetic sequence
with 𝒂𝟏 = 𝟏𝟓 and 𝒅 = 𝟐.
Sol’n. Using the formula: 𝒂𝒏 = 𝒂𝟏 + 𝒏 − 𝟏 𝒅
Given: 𝒂𝟐𝟓 = 𝟏𝟓 + 𝟐𝟓 − 𝟏 (𝟐)
𝒂𝟏 = 𝟏𝟓 𝒂𝟐𝟓 = 𝟏𝟓 + (𝟐𝟒)(𝟐)
𝒅=𝟐 𝒂𝟐𝟓 = 𝟏𝟓 + (𝟒𝟖)
𝒏 = 𝟐𝟓 𝒂𝟐𝟓 = 𝟔𝟑
∴The 25th term is 63.
6. Find the 8th term of the sequence 𝟑𝒂 − 𝟏,
𝟕𝒂 + 𝟏, 𝟏𝟏𝒂 + 𝟑 , …
Sol’n. Using the formula: 𝒂𝒏 = 𝒂𝟏 + 𝒏 − 𝟏 𝒅
Given: 𝒂𝟖 = (𝟑𝒂 − 𝟏) + 𝟖 − 𝟏 (𝟒𝒂 + 𝟐)
𝒂𝟏 = 𝟑𝒂 − 𝟏 𝒂𝟖 = 𝟑𝒂 − 𝟏 + (𝟕)(𝟒𝒂 + 𝟐)
𝒅 = 𝟒𝒂 + 𝟐 𝒂𝟖 = 𝟑𝒂 − 𝟏 + 𝟐𝟖𝒂 + 𝟏𝟒
𝒏=𝟖 𝒂𝟖 = 𝟑𝟏𝒂 + 𝟏𝟑
∴The 8th term is 𝟑𝟏𝒂 + 𝟏𝟑.
S E AT W O R K .
A. Find the common difference and the next
three terms of the given sequence.
1. 4, 13, 22, 31, …
2. 5, 14, 23, …
3. 2a, 5a+1, 8a + 2, …
B. Find the 50th term of the sequence 5, 3, 1, …
