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AQA Core 2 Sequences and series

1 of 5 15/01/13 MEI
Section 2: Arithmetic sequence and series

Solutions to Exercise

1. (i)
10
1
2
r
r


(ii)
12
2
1 r
r


(iii)
20
1
1
r
r


(iv)
6
0
( 2)
r
r




2. (i)
5
1
(2 1) (2 1 1) (2 2 1) (2 3 1) (2 4 1) (2 5 1)
3 5 7 9 11
35
r



(ii)
4
2 2 2 2 2
1
1 2 3 4
1 4 9 16
30
r



(iii)
4
0 1 2 3 4
0
2 2 2 2 2 2
1 2 4 8 16
31
r




3. First term is -12, common difference is 7.
15
th
term 12 14 7 12 98 86


4. (i) First term is 1, common difference is 3.
20
th
term 1 19 3 1 57 58

(ii) nth term 1 3( 1) n
For last term : 1 3( 1) 127
3( 1) 126
1 42
43
n
n
n
n



There are 43 terms in the sequence.
AQA C2 Sequences 2 Exercise solutions
2 of 5 15/01/13 MEI
5. The first 50 odd numbers form an arithmetic series, with a = 1, d = 2, n = 50
1
2
1
2
[2 ( 1) ]
50[2 1 49 2]
25[2 98]
25 100
2500
n
S n a n d





6. (i) a = 2, d = 4
8
th
term 7
2 7 4
2 28
30
a d



(ii)
1
2
1
2
[2 ( 1) ]
10[2 2 9 4]
5[4 36]
5 40
200
n
S n a n d




(iii) Last term = 278

2 4( 1) 278
4( 1) 276
1 69
70
n
n
n
n





7. (i) a = 30
15
th
term = -12 30 14 12
14 42
3
d
d
d





(ii)
1
2
1
2
1
2
[first term last term]
15[30 12]
15 18
15 9
135
n
S n





AQA C2 Sequences 2 Exercise solutions
3 of 5 15/01/13 MEI
8. a = 2, d = 3
Last term = 92 2 3( 1) 92
3( 1) 90
1 30
31
n
n
n
n





1
2
1
2
1
2
[first term last term]
31[2 92]
31 94
31 47
1457
n
S n





9. (i) 7
th
term = -2 6 2 2 6 a d a d
12
th
term = 8 11 8 a d
Substituting first equation into second: 2 6 11 8
5 10
2
d d
d
d


2 6 2 6 2 14 a d
The first term is -14 and the common difference is 2.

(ii)
1
2
1
2
2
2
[2 ( 1) ]
364 [2 14 2( 1)]
364 ( 14 1)
364 15
15 364 0
( 28)( 13) 0
n
S n a n d
n n
n n
n n
n n
n n







Since n must be positive, n = 28.


10. (i) 1
st
term 5 1 3 2
2
nd
term 5 2 3 7
3
rd
term 5 3 3 12
Common difference = 5.

(ii)
1
2
1
2
[2 ( 1) ]
20[2 2 19 5 ]
10[4 95 ]
10 99
990
n
S n a n d





AQA C2 Sequences 2 Exercise solutions
4 of 5 15/01/13 MEI
11. (i) 1
st
term
1
4 2 6 S

(ii)
2
2
4 2 2 2 8 8 16 S
2
nd
term 16 6 10
Common difference = 4.

(iii) k
th
term ( 1)
6 4( 1)
6 4 4
4 2
a k d
k
k
k







12. (i) k
th
term 120 7( 1) k

1
7
120 7( 1) 0
120 7 7 0
127 7
7 127
18
k
k
k
k
k


The 19
th
term is the first term which is negative.

(ii)
1
2
1
2
1
2
[2 ( 1) ]
[2 120 7( 1)]
[240 7 7]
n
S n a n d
n n
n n





1
2
(247 7 ) 0 n n
Since n is positive,
2
7
247 7 0
247 7
7 247
35
n
n
n
n


The sum of the first 36 terms is the first negative sum of terms.


13. (i) a = 10, d = 2
nth term = 30
10 2( 1) 30
2( 1) 20
1 10
11
n
n
n
n



He uses the bike for 30 minutes at the 11
th
session.

AQA C2 Sequences 2 Exercise solutions
5 of 5 15/01/13 MEI
(ii)
1
2
1
2
1
2
[first term last term]
11[10 30]
11 40
11 20
220
n
S n



He has used the bike for a total of 220 minutes.

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