Algebra II Workbook For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 15

Going Out of Sequence with Sequences and Series

In This Chapter

Working with sequences and their terms

Recognizing arithmetic and geometric patterns

Examining recursive sequences: Going back two or more terms

Summing up the terms in a sequence with a series

A sequence is a list of items all separated by commas (milk, sugar, eggs … okay, so it’s generally a list of numbers). Mathematical sequences usually have a rule determining what number comes in which position in the list. A series is the sum of the numbers in a sequence — or that list. You add up a few or many or all the terms in a sequence.

In this chapter, you see arithmetic and geometric sequences — some of the more commonly used sequences. You also form many other types of sequences by just writing a rule using various mathematical operations. Finally, you figure out how to add the terms in a sequence using rules that apply to series.

Writing the Terms of a Sequence

The sequence 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, … consists of the odd positive integers. Notice that I stop listing the numbers at 9, hoping that you can determine the ...