APPLICATION OF ARITHMETIC IN

EVERYDAY PROBLEMS

EXAMPLE 1

An amphitheatre has 50 rows of

seats with 30 seats in the first
row, 32 in the second, and 34 in
the third and so on. Find the total
number of seats.

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 SOLUTION
The number of seats in the rows form an arithmetic
sequence with
a = 30, d = 2
Since there are 50 rows,
50
S50   2  30   49  2  
2
 3950
Thus, there are 3950 seats in the amphitheatre

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Example 2

There are two temporary jobs, A and B. Job A last

for 3 months and job B 12 weeks.
Job A pays RM 400 per month with a RM 100
raise
each month.
Job B pays RM 100 per week with a RM 5 raise
each week.
Which job is the better paying job?

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 Application Of Geometric Series
In Every Day Problems

EXAMPLE 1
Each year the price of a car
depreciates by 10% of the value at the
beginning of the year. If the original
price of the article was RM 50 000 ,find
its price after 10 years.

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 SOLUTION :
Original price = RM 50 000

 90  
Price after 1 year = RM
 ( 50000 ) 
100  

Price after 2 years = RM  90  90 ( 50000)

  
 100  400 
2
 90 
= RM   (50000 )
100 
3
 90 
Price after 3 years = RM   (50000 )
100 
10
 90 
Price after 10 years = RM   (50000 )
100 
= RM 17434 (to the nearest ringgit)
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EXAMPLE 2

Halim borrows RM5 000 from a bank.

The loan is repaid by 20 equal yearly
installments, the first payment being
made the year after the loan was
taken. If the interest charged on the
loan is 5 % each year, find the amount
to be paid each year.

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 SOLUTION

Let the amount to be paid each year RMx.

After one year, the debt
= RM (5000 + 5% interest - x).
If RMPn is the debt after n years,

P1 = 5000 + ( 0.05)( 5000) − x = 5000(1.05) − x



P2  P1  0.05 P1  x
 1.05 P1  x  5000  1.05   1.05 x  x
2

P3 = 1.05P2 − x = 5000(1.05) − 1.05 2 x − 1.05 x − x

3

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P20 = 5000(1.05)
20
− 1.0519 x − 1.0518 x − ... − x

= 5000(1.05)
20
− x(1 + 1.05 + ... + 1.05 )
19

1.0520 −1
20
= 5000(1.05) − x  
1.05 −1
20  20
= 5000(1.05) − 20 x1.05 −1
 
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The loan is settled if P20 =0.

20x(1.0520 – 1) = 5000(1.0520)
20
5000(1.05)
x= = 401
(
20 1.05 − 1
20
)
The amount to be paid each year is RM401.00

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