ALGEBRA

ARITHMATIC PROGRESSION AND

GEOMETRIC PROGRESSION
1. A sequence is a collection of numbers arranged in a
definite order according to some definite rule.
2. The first term of the sequence is denoted by t1 or a,
the second term is denoted by t2, in general the nth
term is denoted by tn. A sequence is usually
denoted by {tn}.
3. The sum of the first n terms of a sequence is
denoted by Sn and Sn and Sn = t1 + t2 + t3 + .. tn
4. For any sequence tn = Sn Sn-1
5. A sequence {tn} is a A.P. If (tn+1-tn) is constant. This
constant term is called common difference and is
denoted by d.
6. The nth term of an A.P. with the first term a and
the common difference d is given as
tn = a + (n-1) d
7. The sum of the first n terms of an A. P. is given by
the formula
n
Sn = 2 x [2a + (n-1) d], where a is the first term

n
and d is the common difference Or Sn = 2 x
 (a+l), where a is the first term and l is the last
term.
8. It is convenient to consider
i) Three consecutive terms of an A.P. as a-d,a,a+d.
ii) Four consecutive terms of an A.P. as a 3d,