SHS

PRE- CALCULUS
Quarter 1 – Weeks 8 and 9
Module 9:
SIGMA NOTATION
Pre-Calculus – SHS
Quarter 1 – Module 9: SIGMA NOTATION

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Regional Director: Gilbert T. Sadsad

Assistant Regional Director: Jessie L. Amin

Development Team of the Module

Writer: EZA C. RAZO
Editors: MA. LUISA C. AREVALO, MERCY A. GAMBA,
JUBELLE GRACE B. LAGAJINO MELANY D. PANGILINAN,
FRANCIS RAZO
Reviewers: MA. JECCA LATOZA-AZAS, JERRY G. FIRMANES, QA and Validation
Team
 QUARTER 1
MODULE 9

I. Title of Material/Introduction:
SIGMA NOTATION
This module discusses sigma notation, a shorthand method for writing
sums. We will see the power of this notation in computing sums of numbers as
well as algebraic expressions.

II. Objectives:

After going through this module, you should be able to:

a. represent a given series in sigma notation;
b. expand a given sigma notation; and
c. evaluate the sum of a series expressed in sigma notation.

III. Vocabulary List:

Series It is the indicated sum of the terms of a sequence.

Example: 1+2+3+4+5+…..
Partial Sum It is indicated by Sn, which means the sum of a specified number of
terms of a sequence.
Example: s1 = a1
s2 = a1 + a2
s3 = a1 + a2 + a3 . . .
sn = a1 + a2 + a3 + · · · + an

Summation It is the addition of a sequence of any kind of numbers, called

addends or summands; the result is their sum or total.

IV. Pre-Test:

How much do you know?

INSTRUCTIONS: Read carefully and understand the following questions for each item.
Choose the letter that corresponds to the correct answer.
1. Write the series in sigma notation: 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5.
a. ∑5𝑘=1 5 b. ∑6𝑘=1 5 c. ∑7𝑘=1 5 d. ∑8𝑘=1 5

2. Express the series in summation notation: .

1 1 1 1
a. ∑5𝑘=1 b. ∑5𝑘=1 𝑘
5𝑘 5
c. ∑5𝑘=1 5𝑘
d. ∑5𝑘=1 𝑘

3. Evaluate ∑10
𝑘=1 2.
a. 30 b. 20 c. 10 d. 2

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 4. What is the value of ∑4𝑘=1(2𝑘 + 1) ?
a. 24 b. 15 c. 12 d. 8

5. Find the value of ∑10 2

𝑘=4 𝑘 .
a. 380 b. 384 c. 385 d. 371

V. Learning Activities:

What you need to know…

Warm up
Let us try to find the first 5 terms of each sequence. \
Where n=1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Examples:
1. 𝑎𝑛 = 2𝑛
If n=1, then 𝑎1 = 2(1) = 2
If n=2, then 𝑎1 = 2(2) = 4
If n=3, then 𝑎1 = 2(3) = 6
If n=4, then 𝑎1 = 2(4) = 8
If n=5, then 𝑎1 = 2(5) = 10
Therefore, the first 5 terms of the sequence 𝑎𝑛 = 2𝑛 are 2, 4, 6, 8, 10
1
2. 𝑎𝑛 = 𝑛
1
If n=1, then 𝑎1 = = 1
1
1
If n=2, then 𝑎2 =
2
1
If n=3, then 𝑎3 =
3
1
If n=4, then 𝑎4 = 4
1
If n=5, then 𝑎5 = 5
1 1 1 1 1
Therefore, the first 5 terms of the sequence 𝑎𝑛 = 𝑛 are 1, , , , .
2 3 4 5

3. 𝑎𝑛 = −𝑛2
If n=1, then 𝑎1 = −(1)2 = −1
If n=2, then 𝑎1 = −(2)2 = −4
If n=3, then 𝑎1 = −(3)2 = −9
If n=4, then 𝑎1 = −(4)2 = −16
If n=5, then 𝑎1 = −(5)2 = −25
Therefore, the first 5 terms of the sequence 𝑎𝑛 = −𝑛2 are−1, −4, −9, −16, −25.

4. 𝑎𝑛 = 2𝑛
If n=1, then 𝑎1 = (2)1 = 2
If n=2, then 𝑎1 = (2)2 = 4
If n=3, then 𝑎1 = (2)3 = 8
If n=4, then 𝑎1 = (2)4 = 16
If n=5, then 𝑎1 = (2)5 = 32
Therefore, the first 5 terms of the sequence 𝑎𝑛 = 2𝑛 are 2, 4, 8, 16, 32.

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 Now, let’s write a possible explicit rule for the nth term of each sequence.
Example:
1. 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, …
Change 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, … to exponential form

Prime Exponential
#
Factorization form
1
2 2 21
4 2•2 22
8 2•2•2 23
16 2•2•2•2 24
. .
. . ?
. .

If n = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and so on.
A series is the indicated sum of the terms of a sequence. Some
examples are shown in the table.

https://users.math.msu.edu/users/systeven/MTH103/T3.7.pdf
In the previous lesson you learned how to differentiate sequence from
series and how to find the nth term of a sequence. Often, you are also
interested in the sum of a certain number of terms of a sequence.
When a sequence is infinite, just find its partial sum. A partial sum,
indicated by Sn, is the sum of a specified number of terms of a sequence.
Consider the example below.
For even numbers 2, 4, 6, 8, . . .

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 Writing a Given Series in Summation Notation

A series can also be represented by using summation notation (can be

called sigma notation), which uses the Greek letter  (capital sigma) to denote
the sum of a sequence defined by a rule, as shown.
(read as: summation of 2k where k is from 1 to 5)

Write the following series in summation notation.

Example 1: 2 + 4 + 6 + 8 + 10
To write the series in summation notation we need to determine the
explicit rule/formula by making a table.
𝑘 𝑎𝑘
1 2
2 4
3 6
4 8
5 10
6 ?

How do you obtain the value of 𝑎𝑘 if 𝑘 = 6?

To get 𝑎𝑘 just multiply the value of k by 2.
Hence, the explicit formula is 𝒂𝒌 = 𝟐𝒌, so 𝑎6 = 12.
You can now write the notation for the first 5 terms.

Last value of k
5

෍ 2𝑘 Explicit formula Summation notation

𝑘=1
First value of k

Example 2:
𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
−𝟏 + − + − +
𝟒 𝟗 𝟏𝟔 𝟐𝟓 𝟑𝟔

Find a rule for the kth term of the series.

Explicit formula.

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 Write the summation notation for the first 6 terms.

Summation notation.

𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
Example 3: 𝟒
+ 𝟗 + 𝟏𝟔 + 𝟐𝟓 + 𝟑𝟔

Find a rule for the kth term of the series.

Explicit formula.

Write the summation notation for the first 5 terms.

Summation notation.

Example 4: −𝟐 + 𝟒 − 𝟔 + 𝟖 − 𝟏𝟎
Find a rule for the kth term of the series.

Explicit formula.
Write the summation notation for the first 6 terms.

Summation notation.

Evaluating Sums Written in Summation

Notation
Consider the given examples.
Example 1. Evaluate: ∑5𝑘=1 3
First, you need to expand it by replacing the value of k.
If k = 1, a1 = 3, if k = 2, a2 = 3…
k ak
1 3
2 3
3 3
4 3
5 3
Notice that ak is constant.
Hence, ∑5𝑘=1 3 = 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 5(3) = 15
Therefore, ∑5𝑘=1 3 = 5(3)
The formula for the sum of a constant series is shown.

or
𝑛

෍ 𝑐 = 𝑛𝑐
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𝑘=1
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 Note that when counting the number of terms, you must include both the first
and the last.

For example, has six terms where k = 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

Therefore, = 8 + 8 + 8 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 6(8) = 48.

Example 2. Find the sum of the first 10 natural numbers.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,10
Examine the rearranged terms.

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That is an example of a linear series.

Remember!
A linear series or arithmetic series is the sum of of the terms in an
arithmetic sequence with a definite number of terms

Notice that 5 is half of the number of terms and 11 represents the sum of the
first and the last term, 1 + 10. This suggests that the sum of a linear series is
𝑛(𝑛+1) 𝑛
∑𝑛𝑘=1 𝑘 = , which can be written as ∑𝑛𝑘=1 𝑘 = 2 (1 + 𝑛).
2

Example 3. Evaluate:
First, you need to expand it by replacing the values of k which are
1
2,3,4,5 in the explicit formula/rule (3𝑘 ).

1
k Simplify
3𝑘
1 1
2
32 9
1 1
3
33 27
1 1
4
34 81
1 1
5
35 243

1 1 1 1
So, the expanded form is 9 + 27 + 81 + 243

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 27 9 3 1 40
Change to similar fractions and simplify. + + + =
243 243 243 243 243
40
Therefore, = 243

Example 4. Evaluate: ∑𝟔𝒌=𝟏(𝒌𝟐 − 𝟏𝟎)

2 2 2 2 2 2
= (1 – 10) + (2 – 10) + (3 – 10) + (4 – 10) + (5 – 10) + (6 – 10) Expand.

= –9 – 6 – 1 + 6 + 15 + 26 Simplify.
= 31

Example 5. Evaluate: ∑𝟒𝒌=𝟏(𝟐𝒌 − 𝟏)

Expand the series by replacing k.

= (2(1) – 1) + (2(2) – 1) +(2(3) – 1) + (2(4) – 1)

=1+3+5+7 Simplify.
=16

VI. Practice Exercises

What you will do

Practice Task 1

WORD SEARCH

SERIES SUMMATION NOTATION

SEQUENCE LINEAR
CONSTANT PARTIAL SUM

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 Practice Task 2 : RIDDLES AND CODES

Evaluate the sum of a series expressed in sigma notation inside the

box. Use the secret code below to answer these riddles. Write the letter that
corresponds to your answer on the blank provided above in each box.

33 14 21 12 60 54 18 30 25 11 38 15 36 72 35 20 16 27 60 42
K A O P R E U Y N F H T S D M I L B C W

What can run but can’t walk?

________ ________ _______ ________ __________

10 3 5 5 8
෍ 6 ෍ 𝑘2 ෍ 3 ෍ 𝑘2 ෍ 2𝑘 − 1
𝑘=4 𝑘=1 𝑘=1 𝑘=2 𝑘=3

What is made that can’t be seen?

_______ _______ _______ ________ ________

5 6 10 10 5
෍ 5 ෍ 𝑘 ෍ 2 ෍ 4 ෍ 𝑘2
𝑘=1 𝑘=1 𝑘=1 𝑘=2 𝑘=2

What belongs to you but is used more than by others?

_______ ________ _______ _________

6 6 6 8
෍ 5 ෍ 𝑘 ෍ 3 ෍ 2𝑘
𝑘=1 𝑘=1 𝑘=1 𝑘=4
+1
________ ________ _______ ________
5 3 8 5
෍ 5 ෍ 𝑘2 ෍ 5 ෍ 𝑘2
𝑘=1 𝑘=1 𝑘=2 𝑘=2

Practice Task 3: Problem Solving

Zam is laying out patio stones in a triangular pattern. The first row has
2 stones and each row has 2 additional stones. How many complete rows can
he make with a box of 144 stones?

1. Understand the Problem

The answer will be the number of complete rows.
2. Make a Plan
Make a diagram of the patio to better understand the problem.
3. Solve
The number of stones increases by 2 in each row. Write a series to represent the
total number of stones in n rows.

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VII. Post Test:

INSTRUCTIONS: Read carefully and understand the following

questions for each item. Choose the letter that corresponds to
the correct answer.

1. Write the series in summation notation. 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5

a. ∑5𝑘=1 5 b. ∑6𝑘=1 5 c. ∑7𝑘=1 5 d. ∑8𝑘=1 5

2. Write the series in summation notation.

1 1 1 1
a. ∑5𝑘=1 5𝑘 b. ∑5𝑘=1 5𝑘 c. ∑5𝑘=1 𝑘 5 d. ∑5𝑘=1 𝑘

3. Evaluate the sum of a series expressed in sigma notation. ∑10

𝑘=1 2
a. 30 b. 20 c. 10 d. 2

4. Find the sum of a series expressed in sigma notation. ∑6𝑘=1 3

a. 18 b. 15 c. 12 d. 9

5. What is the value of ∑6𝑘=3 4 ?

a. 12 b. 16 c. 20 d. 24

6. Evaluate ∑9𝑘=2 3.
a. 27 b. 24 c. 21 d. 18

7. Evaluate the sum of a series expressed in sigma notation. ∑9𝑘=1 𝑘

a. 9 b. 27 c. 36 d. 45

8. Evaluate ∑6𝑘=3 𝑘.
a. 21 b. 18 c. 15 d.10

9. What is the value of ∑4𝑘=1(2𝑘 + 1)

b. 24 b. 15 c. 12 d. 8
1 1 1 1 1 1 1
10. Write the expression in sigma notation. 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + 64 + 128
1 1 1 1
a. ∑7𝑘=1 2𝑘 b. ∑7𝑘=0 2𝑘 c. ∑7𝑘=0 2𝑘 d. ∑7𝑘=1 2𝑘

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VIII. Assignments

Write each series in summation notation.

1. 1 – 10 + 100 – 1000 + 10,000

2.

Evaluate the following summation notation.

1.

2.

3.

4.

References:

Department of Education (Bureau of Learning Resources) Pre-Calculus Learner’s

Material. Lexicon Press Inc., Philippines, 2016

Department of Education (Bureau of Learning Resources) Pre-Calculus Teacher’s

Guide. Lexicon Press Inc., Philippines, 2016

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