Asian Development Foundation College

Bliss Sagkahan, Tacloban City

Program Title: Basic Education – Grade 10

Course/ Subject Title: Mathematics
Instructor/ Author: Mrs. Cristina A. De Ontoy
Module No.:1
Topic: Sequences and Series
Lesson No.:2
Learning Outcome:
The learner should be able to:
1. Illustrate a geometric sequence.
2. Differentiate a geometric sequence from an arithmetic sequence.
3. Determine geometric means, nth term of a geometric sequence and sum of the terms of a given finite
or infinite geometric sequence.
Method of Assessment: Seatwork and Quiz
Assessment Criteria:
Key Concept:
1. A geometric sequence or geometric progression is a sequence in which there is a common ratio
between any consecutive terms. The common ratio is denoted as r and is derived by dividing the
succeeding term by the preceding term.
2. The geometric mean between any two positive terms of a geometric sequence is the square root of
the product.
3. A geometric series is the sum of the terms of a geometric sequence.
4. A finite geometric series has finite number of terms.
5. An infinite geometric series has infinite number of terms.
Key Terms:
1. Geometric Sequence
2. Geometric Series
References:
Realistic Math
Math for Engaged Learning
Links:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5klBPR2Npk
 Asian Development Foundation College
Bliss Sagkahan, Tacloban City

Program Title: Basic Education – Grade 10

Course/ Subject Title: Mathematics
Instructor/ Author: Mrs. Cristina A. De Ontoy
Module No.:1
Lesson No.:2

LESSON NO. 2
GEOMETRIC SEQUENCE
The table below shows the number of equal parts formed when a piece of paper is folded repeatedly.
You can get a piece of paper and do the folding by your own. You will notice, that when you fold the paper once
only, there are two equal parts that are formed, so that when you fold it for the second time, you will notice
that there are four equal parts, and so on.

No. of folds 1 2 3 4 5
No. of Equal
2 4 8 16 32
Parts

How many equal parts do you think will be formed if the paper is folded six times?
Answer: 64
Let us examine the pattern of the sequence
2 , 4 , 8 , 16 , 32.

2 2 2 2
In the illustration above, the succeeding term is obtained by multiplying the preceding term by a fixed
number which is 2. This kind of sequence is called a geometric sequence or geometric progression. The fixed
number is called the common ratio 𝒂 and we denote it as r. It is obtained by dividing the succeeding term by the
𝒏+𝟏
preceding term. In general, r = .
𝒂𝒏
Let us determine the common ratio and the next term in the following sequences.
Example 1.
3, 9, 27, 81, . . .
Solution:
The common ratio is determined by dividing the second term by the first,
𝑟 = 𝑎2 = 9 = 3
𝑎1 3
𝑎5 = 81 𝑥 3 = 243
Answer: The next term is 243.

Example 2.
40, 20, 10, 5, . . .
Solution:
𝑎2 20 1
𝑟 = 𝑎1 = 40= 2
𝑎5 = 5 𝑥 1 = 5
2 25
Answer: The next term is .
2

Example 3.
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2, –10, 50, –250, . . .

Solution:
𝑟 = 𝑎2 = 10 = – 5
𝑎1 2
𝑎5 = −250 𝑥 (– 5) = 1, 250
Answer: The next term is 1, 250.

Using the example about paper folding, let us identify the number of equal parts on the n number
of folds.
𝑎1 = 2 𝑎1 𝑜𝑟 𝑎1 𝑟 0
𝑎2 = 2 𝑥 2 = 4 𝑎2 = 𝑎1 𝑟 𝑜𝑟 𝑎1 𝑟 1
𝑎3 = 4 𝑥 2 = 8 𝑎3 = 𝑎2 𝑟 𝑜𝑟 𝑎1 𝑟 2
𝑎4 = 8 𝑥 2 = 16 𝑎4 = 𝑎3 𝑟 𝑜𝑟 𝑎1 𝑟 3
𝑎5 = 16 𝑥 2 = 32 𝑎5 = 𝑎4 𝑟 𝑜𝑟 𝑎1 𝑟 4
𝑎𝑛 = 𝑎𝑛–1 𝑟 𝑜𝑟 𝑎1 𝑟 𝑛−1
Or in general, 𝒂𝒏 = 𝒂𝒏–𝟏𝒓 𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝟏𝒓𝒏–𝟏,
for any natural number n when r ≠ 0.

The derived formula in the last row is used in determining the nth term of a geometric sequence
without computing for the previous (n–1) term. A geometric sequence is finite if it consists of
finite number of terms, otherwise it is called infinite.
Let us determine the term being asked in the following sequences.

Example 4.
Determine the 9th term of the sequence 2, 4, 8, 16, . . .
Solution:
𝑎1 = 2 , n = 9
𝑟 = 𝑎2 = 4 = 2
𝑎1 2
𝑛–1
𝑎𝑛 = 𝑎1 𝑟
𝑎9 = 2 (2)9–1 = 2 (2)8 = 512
Example 5
Determine the 12th term of the sequence 3, –6, 12, –24, . . .
Solution:
𝑎1 = 3 , 𝑛 = 12
𝑟 = 𝑎2 = −6
= −2
𝑎1 3
𝑎𝑛 = 𝑎, 𝑟 𝑛−1
𝑎12 = 3 (−2)12–1 = 3 (−2)11 = −6,144
Answer: the 12th term is –6,144.
The term between any two terms of a geometric sequence is called geometric mean. It is
obtained by getting the square root of their product.

Example 6.
Determine the geometric mean between 5 and 125.
Solution:
Let us denote the geometric mean as x.
𝑥 = √(5)(125) = √625 = 25
Answer: The geometric mean is 25.
Example 7.
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Insert a positive geometric mean between –3 and –108.

Solution:
Let us denote the geometric mean as x.
𝑥 = √(−3)(−108) = √324 = 18
Answer: The geometric mean is 18.

Example 8.
Insert three geometric means between 2 and 2,592.
Solution:
2, , , , 2 592
Let us denote the geometric mean between 2 and 2 592 as x.
𝑥 = √2 (2 592) = √5 184 = 72
𝑥 = 72
So, we can rewrite the sequence as 2, , 72, , 2 592. Let us solve the geometric mean between
2 and 72 and denote it as y.
𝑦 = √2 (72) = √144 = 12
Then, we can rewrite the sequence as 2, 12, 72, , 2 592.
From here, we can identify that r = 12 ÷ 2 = 6. Hence, the fourth term is 72 x 6 = 432.
Answer: The geometric means are 12, 72, and 432.

Now, let us see the difference between arithmetic sequence and geometric sequence. Which of the two
sequences below shows arithmetic sequence or geometric sequence? Why do you think so? Or what makes the
two different from each other?
1. 3, 6, 9, 12, 15
2. 3, 9, 27, 81, 243

Answer: The first one shows arithmetic sequence or arithmetic progression as it has common difference
while the second one shows geometric sequence or geometric progression as it has common ratio.
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FINITE AND INFINITE GEOMETRIC SERIES

A geometric series is the sum of the terms of a geometric sequence. A finite geometric series has finite
number of terms and has a general formula of a 1 + a1r + a1r2 + a1r3 + . . . + a1rn. An infinite geometric series
has infinite number of terms and has a general formula of a1 + a1r + a1r2 + a1r3 + . . .
The formula in determining the partial sum of the first n terms, denoted by S n in a finite geometric
sequence is
Sn = 𝑎1−𝑎1𝑟 𝑛
1−𝑟 ,𝑟 ≠1
Factoring out a1, the formula can also be written as,
𝒏
𝟏
Sn = a1 ( ) , 𝒓 ≠ 𝟏.
𝟏−𝒓

Let us consider this situation:

Classes were suspended in a city due to a strong typhoon. Suppose the batch president texted
four of her batch mates at 5 A.M., and then each of them forwarded the same text message in a manner
that excluded those who were already informed to four new batch mates within an hour, and so on. How
many students will receive the same message by 8 A.M.?
To illustrate the problem:

TIME Number of Recipients

5 A.M. 4
6 A.M. 4 x 4 = 16
7 A.M. 16 x 4 = 64
8 A.M. 64 x 4 = 256
Total 340

Therefore, 340 students will receive the message by 8 A.M.

The number of recipients forms the geometric sequence 4, 16, 64, 256 with a common ratio of 4. The
sum of the numbers in the sequence corresponds to the total number of recipients. Thus, the problem can be
solved using the concept of geometric series.
The other way of solving the problem is by using the formula
𝟏− 𝒓𝒏
𝑎1 − 𝑎1 𝑟 𝑛
Sn = a1 ( ), r≠1 or Sn
=
𝟏−𝒓 ,r≠1
1−𝑟
Solution:
a1 = 4, a2 = 16
16
r= =4
4
From 5 A.M. to 8 A.M. is 4 hours, hence n = 4.

1− 𝑟𝑛
𝑎1 −𝑎1 𝑟 𝑛
Sn = a1 ( ) or Sn
1−𝑟 1−𝑟
=
1−44 4−4(4)4
S4 = 4 ( ) 1−4
S4 = 4−4
1−4 (256)
1−256
S4 = 4 ( ) S4 =
−3 −3
−255 4−1,024
S4 = 4 ( ) S4 = −3
−3
−1,020
S4 = 4 (85) S4 =
−3
S4 = 340 S4 = 340
Answer: Three-hundred forty students will receive the same message by 8:00 A.M.
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Example 1.
Determine the sum of the first ten terms of the sequence, { 3, 12, 48, 192, . . . }
Solution:
a1 = 3 , n = 10
𝑎2
r = = −8 = −2
𝑎1 4
1−(−2)10
S10 = 4 ( ) = –1,364
1−(−2)
Answer:
The sum of the first 10 terms is –1,364.

Example 2.
The second term of a geometric sequence is 9 and the common ratio is –3. What is the sum of the
first 12 terms of the sequence?
Solution:
a2 = 9 , n = 12 , r = –3
𝑎2 9 = −3
1a = =
𝑟 −3
1−(−3)12
S12 = –3 ( ) = 398, 580
1−(−3)
Answer:
The sum of the first twelve terms is 398, 580.

Example 3.
A businessman’s personal wealth doubles every year. If his wealth in year 2016 was estimated to
be ₱10, 000, 000.00, how much would be his accumulated wealth in 2024?
Solution:
a1 = 10, 000, 000 , n = 9 , r = 2
1−29
S9 = 10, 000, 000 ( ) = 5, 110, 000, 000
1−2
Answer:
The accumulated wealth in 2024 is ₱5, 110, 000, 000.00.

Let us consider an infinite geometric series.

1
+1+1+...
2 4 8
1
S1 = = 0.5
21 1 3
S2 = + = = 0.75
2
1 41 41 7
S3 = + + = ≈ 0.88
2
1 41 81 81 15
S4 = + + + = ≈ 0.94
2
1 41 81 161 161 31
S5 = + + + + = ≈ 0.97
2
1 41 81 161 321 321 63
S6 = + + + + + = ≈ 0.98
2 4 8 16 32 64 64

We can observe that as n increases, the sum Sn approaches 1. Using the formula for partial sum,
we will have
1−𝑟 𝑛 1 𝑛
1 1−( ) 1
Sn = a1 ( )= (
2
1 ) = 1 – ( )n
1−𝑟 2 1− 2
2
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1
As n increases, ( ) ngets closer to 0 and in effect Sn gets closer and closer to 1. This is also true for
2
n
r given the condition that the common ratio r is between –1 and 1 or |r|< 1.
Example 1.
20 + 10 + 5 + . . .
Solution:
a1 = 20
10 1
r= =
20 2
𝑆∞ 20 = 40
=
1 2
Answer: The sum is 40.

Example 2.
+ 9 + 27 +. . .
1 1 1
3
Solution
1 1
a1 = , r =
3 1 3
𝑆 = 3 = 1 = 0.5
∞ 1
2
1−
3
Answer: The sum is 0.5.

Example 3.
1 1
–25 + 5 – + + . . .
5 25
Solution:
𝑎1 = −25
−1
r= 5
−25 = 5
−25 =
−125
= −20 5 𝑜𝑟 − 20.83
∞𝑆 = −1 6 6
1−( )
5
Answer: The sum is –20.83.

Example 4.
1
Show that repeating decimal 0.3 = .
3
Solution:
3 3 3 3 3
0.3 = 0.333 . . . = + + + + +...
10 100 1,000 10,000 100,000
𝑎=3
1 3 10 3 1
r= ÷ =
100 10 10
3
1
𝑆∞ = 10
1 = 3
1 10