1-3-sequences--series--

IB DP Maths 5 hours 40 questions
1.3 Sequences &

Series
1.3.1 Language of Sequences & Series / 1.3.2 Arithmetic Sequences & Series / 1.3.3
Geometric Sequences & Series / 1.3.4 Applications of Sequences & Series / 1.3.5
Compound Interest & Depreciation
Medium (16 questions) /105 Scan here to return to the course

or visit savemyexams.com
Hard (13 questions) /109
Very Hard (11 questions) /90
Total Marks /304
© 2024 Save My Exams, Ltd. Get more and ace your exams at savemyexams.com 1
Medium Questions
1 (a) The second term, u , of a geometric sequence is 44 and the third term, u , is 55.
2 3
Find the common ratio, r , of the sequence.
(2 marks)
(b) Find the first term of the sequence, u .

1
(2 marks)
(c) Find S 5 , the sum of the first 5 terms of the sequence.
(2 marks)
2 (a) The sum of the first 16 terms of an arithmetic sequence is 920.
Find the common difference, d , of the sequence if the first term is 27.5.
(3 marks)
(b) Find the first term of the sequence if the common difference, d , is 11.
(3 marks)
3 (a) The sum of the first 5 terms of a geometric sequence is 461.12.
Find the common ratio, r , of the sequence if the first term is 200, given that r > 0.
(3 marks)
(b) Find the first term of the sequence if the common ratio, r , is -2.
Give your answer correct to 2 decimal places.
(3 marks)
4 (a) The table below shows information about the terms of four different sequences
an , b n , cn and d .
n
n=1 n=2 n =3 n =4
an 12 30
bn 12 30
cn 80 10
dn 80 10
Calculate a 1, a 4 and the common difference, d , given that a n is an arithmetic sequence.
(2 marks)
(b) Calculate b , b and the common ratio, r , given that b is a geometric sequence.
1 4 n
(2 marks)
(c) Calculate c 2, c 3 and the common difference, d , given that c n is an arithmetic sequence.
(2 marks)
(d) Calculate d , d and the common ratio, r , given that d is a geometric sequence.
2 3 n
(2 marks)
5 (a) Students are arranged for a graduation photograph in rows which follows an arithmetic
sequence. There are 20 students in the fourth row and 44 in the 10th row.
(i) Find the common difference, d , of the arithmetic sequence.
(ii) Find the first term of the arithmetic sequence.
(3 marks)
(b) Given there are 20 rows of students in the photograph, calculate how many students
there are altogether
(3 marks)
6 (a) Marie is an athlete returning to running after an injury and wants to manage the number
of kilometres she runs per week. She decides to run 4 km the first week and increase this
by 1.5 km each week.
Find the distance Marie ran in the 10th week.
(2 marks)
(b) Find the week in which Marie runs 26.5 km.
(3 marks)
(c) Marie’s coach says she can start preparing for her next race once she has run a total of
220 km.
Find the week in which Marie will complete this.
(3 marks)
7 (a) The eighth term, u , of an arithmetic sequence is 18 and the common difference, d , is 2.
8
(i) Find the first term of the arithmetic sequence.
(ii) Find the value of u .

17
(4 marks)
(b) The first and 17th terms of the arithmetic sequence are the third and fifth terms
respectively of a geometric sequence.
(i) Find the possible values for the common ratio, r , of the geometric sequence.
(ii) Find the first term of the geometric sequence.
(4 marks)
1
8 (a) In a geometric sequence, u = 160 and the common ratio, r , is .
3 4
(i) Find the first term, u .

1
(ii) Find u .
6
(4 marks)
(b) Find the value of the infinite sum of the sequence.
(2 marks)
(c) The first and third terms of the geometric sequence are the seventh and ninth terms
respectively of an arithmetic sequence.
(i) Find the common difference, d , of the arithmetic sequence.
(ii) Find the first term of the arithmetic sequence.
(4 marks)
9 (a) A sequence can be defined by a n = 32 − 7n , for n ∈ ℤ +.
Write an expression for a + a + a + ⋯ + a using sigma notation and find the value of
1 2 3 12
the sum.
(3 marks)
(b) Write an expression for a + a + a + ⋯ + a using sigma notation and find the value of
4 5 6 15
the sum.
(3 marks)
10 (a) A sequence can be defined by g = 4 ×
n
3n − 1 , for n ∈ ℤ +.
Write an expression for g + g + g + ⋯ + g using sigma notation and find the value
1 2 3 10
of the sum.
(3 marks)
(b) Write an expression for g + g + g 0 + ⋯ + g 18 using sigma notation and find the value
8 9 1
of the sum.
(3 marks)
11 (a) The kiwi is a flightless bird and is a national treasure in New Zealand. At the start of 2021
there were approximately 68 000 kiwi left, with the population decreasing by 2% every
year.
Find the expected population size of kiwis in 2030 assuming the rate of decrease in kiwi
population remains the same.
(3 marks)
(b) Find the year in which the population of kiwis falls below 50 000 assuming the rate of
decrease in kiwi population remains the same.
(3 marks)
12 (a) Aaron is working on his cycling in preparation for a triathlon event in 10 months. He
cycles a total of 240 km in the first month and plans to increase this by 12.5% each
month.
Find the distance Aaron cycles in the fifth month of preparation.
(3 marks)
(b) Calculate the total distance Aaron cycles until the triathlon.
(3 marks)
13 (a) A geometric sequence has u = 0.5 and r = 3.
1
Find
(i) u4
(ii) S5 .
(2 marks)
(b) An arithmetic sequence has the same u and S as the geometric sequence above.
4 5
Find u and d for the arithmetic sequence.

1
(4 marks)
14 (a) Daniel and Jonah have each been given $5000 to save for university.
Daniel invests his money in an account that pays a nominal annual interest rate of
2.24%,compounded quarterly.
Calculate the amount Daniel will have in his account after 8 years.
Give your answer to 2 decimal places.
(3 marks)
(b) Jonah wants to invest his money in an account such that his investment will double in 10
years. Assume the account pays a nominal annual interest of r %, compounded half-
yearly.
Determine the value of r .
(3 marks)
15 (a) On his 40th birthday, Robert invests $15 000 into a savings account that pays a nominal
annual interest rate of 4.78%, compounded monthly.
(i) Write an expression for the total value of the investment after n years.
Give your answer to 2 decimal places.
(ii) Find the total amount in the savings account after 3 and 5 years.
(3 marks)
(b) Find the age Robert will be when the amount of money in his account will be 1.5 times
the initial amount.
(2 marks)
16 The sum of the first two terms of a geometric sequence is 15.3 and the sum of the
infinite geometric sequence is 30. Find the positive value of the common ratio, r .
(6 marks)
Hard Questions
1 (a) The sum of the first eight terms of a sequence is 200.
Given that u = 5.75, find:

1
(i) the common difference, d , in the case where the sequence is arithmetic
(ii) the common ratio, r , in the case where the sequence is geometric.
(4 marks)
(b) Find S12 , the sum of the first 12 terms for the arithmetic and geometric sequences
found in part (a).
(4 marks)
2 (a) The third term of a geometric sequence is 270 and the sixth term is − 911.25.
Find the 10th term of the sequence.
(4 marks)
(b) Find the sum of the first 21 terms of the sequence.
Give your answer in the form a × 10k , where 1 ≤ a < 10 and k ∈ ℤ .
(4 marks)
3 (a) The table below shows information about the terms of three different sequences, an , b n
and c .
n
n =1 n =2 n =3 n =4 n =5 n =6
an 0.1 2.7 24.3
bn 24.6 -19 − 62.6
cn 880 220 − 27.5
Determine whether a is an arithmetic or geometric sequence and fill in the table

n
accordingly.
(4 marks)
(b) Determine whether b is an arithmetic or geometric sequence and fill in the table
n
accordingly.
(4 marks)
(c) Determine whether c is an arithmetic or geometric sequence and fill in the table
n
accordingly.
(4 marks)
4 (a) The 18th term of an arithmetic sequence is 54 and the common difference, d , is 2.2.
Find S18 the sum of the first 18 terms of the arithmetic sequence.
(4 marks)
(b) The first and 18th terms of the arithmetic sequence are the first and second terms
respectively of a geometric sequence.
Find the smallest value of n such that S > 10 000 for the geometric sequence.
n
(4 marks)
1
5 (a) The fifth term of a geometric sequence is 1 and the common ratio, r , is .
3
Find S 5 , the sum of the first five terms of the geometric sequence.
(4 marks)
(b) Find the exact value of the infinite sequence.
(2 marks)
(c) The first and fifth terms of the geometric sequence are the 20th and 10th terms
respectively of an arithmetic sequence.
Find the largest value of n such that S < 1000 for the arithmetic sequence.
n
(4 marks)
6 (a) Ashley and Emma are attempting to swim a total of 2000 m each by completing laps of a
25 m pool. Ashley swims her first lap in 17 s and takes 0.2 s longer each lap after that.
Emma swims her first lap in 16.5 s and takes 1.01 s times longer each lap after that.
(i) Find the time Ashley takes to swim her final lap.
(ii) Find the time Emma takes to swim her final lap.
(4 marks)
(b) (i) State who swims the 2000 m the fastest.
(ii) Find the mean lap time for both Ashley and Emma.
(4 marks)
7 (a) The table below shows information about the terms of two different sequences, a and
n
bn .
n=1 n=2 n=3 n=4 n=5 n=6

9 243
an 1
4 32
bn 18. 6 38. 1 51. 1
State which sequence is arithmetic, and which is geometric.
(1 mark)
(b) Fill in the missing values in the table.
(4 marks)
(c) Find the largest value of such that a < bn .

n
(3 marks)
8 (a) A basketball is dropped from a height of 1 m and bounces on the ground n times. The
height that the basketball reaches after each bounce forms a geometric sequence. The
height of the basketball after the first bounce is 80 cm and the height after the third
bounce is 51.2 cm.
Find the common ratio, r , of the geometric sequence.
(2 marks)
(b) Find the height that the ball reaches after the second bounce.
(2 marks)
(c) Find the total vertical distance, in metres, travelled by the basketball after the first four
bounces.
(4 marks)
(d) Find the total distance travelled by the ball.
(2 marks)
9 (a) Since the start of 2020, Malcolm has been on a diet and fitness plan aiming to decrease
his waist size. To measure his progress, he has been noting when he goes down a size in
trousers. In January he wore a size 46, in April he wore a size 44, in July he wore a size 42
and now, in October, he wears a size 40.
Show that the decrease in Malcolm’s size in trousers forms an arithmetic sequence and
find how much his size in trousers decreases each month.
(4 marks)
(b) Find the month and year when Malcolm’s size in trousers will be 34.
(4 marks)
(c) State a more accurate way Malcolm could measure the reduction in his waist size.
(1 mark)
10 (a) Grace is a photographer and joins Instagram to advertise her photos. She made one post
in the first week and four posts in the fifth week.
(i) Given that the number of posts that Grace makes each week forms an arithmetic
sequence, calculate the common difference, d .
(ii) Comment on the validity of the common difference, d , found in part (a).
(2 marks)
(b) Find the week in which Grace will make her 1000th post.
(2 marks)
(c) After 11 weeks Grace has 100 followers and after 21 weeks she has 200 followers.
Assuming the increase in Grace’s followers forms a geometric sequence, calculate:
(i) r
(ii) u1
(2 marks)
(d) Grace believes that once she reaches 10 000 followers, companies will start paying her to
take photographs of their products.
Find the week in which Grace will reach 10 000 followers.
(2 marks)
11 (a) Georgia buys a new computer for herself that costs $1099. At the same time, she buys
her son, Duncan, a new gaming computer that costs $2749.
It is anticipated that Georgia's computer will depreciate at a rate of 11% per year,
whereas Duncan's gaming computer will depreciate at 18% per year.
Estimate the value of Georgia's computer after 6 years.
(2 marks)
(b) Georgia and Duncan's computers will have the same estimated value k years after they
were purchased.
Find:
(i) the value of k
(ii) the estimated value after k years.
(4 marks)
12 The sixth term of an arithmetic sequence is equal to 3 and the sum of the first 12 terms
is 12.
Find the common difference and the first term.
(6 marks)
13 (a) A geometric sequence has u = 135 and u = 5.
1 4
Find the common ratio, r .
(2 marks)
(b) Find u .
3
(2 marks)
(c) Find u . Give your answer as a fraction.

7
(2 marks)
(d) Find S∞ .
(2 marks)
Very Hard Questions
1 (a) Julie is starting a new web-based subscription business. She sells her subscriptions for
$19.50 per month with customers paying at the start of every month. She has 12
customers ready to sign up in the first month. By the fifth month she has 29 customers.
Given that the increase in customers follows an arithmetic sequence, calculate the
number of customers Julie will have in the 9th month
(3 marks)
(b) Calculate the revenue Julie’s business will generate by the 17th month. Give your answer
correct to the nearest dollar.
(4 marks)
2 (a) A football team, SME United, have a new stadium with a maximum capacity of 5000
seats, 1500 seats are reserved for the opposition supporters. SME United have 2195 loyal
fans who come to all home matches. The manager has predicted that SME United will
gain 45 new loyal fans every match who will come to every home match thereafter.
Based on the manager’s prediction, work out how many matches will be played before
the number of unreserved seats run out.
(4 marks)
(b) A ticket to one of the matches costs $12.
If the manager's prediction for the increase in loyal fans is correct, and if on average half
of the tickets reserved for opposition supporters are sold per game, calculate the
revenue that SME United will generate from ticket sales in a 30 match season.
(4 marks)
3 (a) Ben and Sam are both cyclists competing in a 22.5 km race at the Herne Hill Velodrome
in London, England. One lap of the velodrome is 450 m.
Ben takes a total of 42 minutes to complete the race.
Calculate Ben’s mean lap time in seconds.
(2 marks)
(b) Given that each of Ben’s laps took him 1% longer to complete than the previous one,
calculate how long it took him (in seconds) to complete his first and last laps.
(3 marks)
(c) Sam completes the first lap in 45 seconds and takes 0.2 seconds longer per lap.
Determine who completed the race the first out of Ben and Sam. Justify your answer.
(3 marks)
4 (a) The first three terms of a geometric sequence are x + 4 , 6x and 2x 2 respectively, where
x ∈ℝ, x ≠ 0 .
Find u , the fifth term of the sequence. Give your answer as a fraction.
5
(4 marks)
(b) Find S 7, the sum of the first seven terms of the sequence.
(4 marks)
5 (a) Lucy is considering two investment strategies.
Strategy A requires an initial deposit of $100. At the start of the second month a deposit
of $115 would need to be made, with monthly deposits at the start of each month
thereafter that are each $15 more than the deposit in the previous month.
Strategy B requires an initial deposit of $90. At the start of the second month a deposit of
$93.60 would need to be made, with monthly deposits at the start of each month
thereafter that are each 4% more than the deposit in the previous month.
Write an expression, using sigma notation, to represent the total amount invested
after n months in
(i) Strategy A.
(ii) Strategy B.
(2 marks)
(b) Find which monthly deposit from Strategy A would be the last one that is greater than
the corresponding monthly deposit from Strategy B.
(3 marks)
(c) Find after which monthly deposit the total amount invested in Strategy B would exceed
the total amount invested in Strategy A.
(3 marks)
6 (a) Joshua is the owner of a new restaurant which is open in the evening from Monday to
Friday. The restaurant has a maximum capacity of 50 guests per evening. During the
restaurant’s first week they had an average of 24.6 guests per evening and the average
spend per guest was $57.55.
Calculate the total amount of revenue the restaurant made in the first week. Give your
answer correct to 2 decimal places.
(1 mark)
(b) During the first week Joshua ran a successful marketing campaign and noticed that
during the fourth week the restaurant had an average of 33 guests per evening.
Assuming the growth in average guests per evening follows an arithmetic sequence, find
the week during which the restaurant will experience capacity issues.
(3 marks)
(c) Calculate the total revenue that the restaurant will generate in its first 10 weeks of being
open. Give your answer correct to the nearest dollar.
(4 marks)
7 (a) The first term of both an arithmetic and a geometric sequence is 1 and both sequences
have the same second term. The 20th term of the arithmetic sequence is five times the
third term of the geometric sequence.
Find the possible values of the second term.
(4 marks)
(b) Find the possible values of the 10th term for each sequence.
(4 marks)
8 (a) The first four terms of an arithmetic sequence are (x + y ) , (2x + 3) , (6y − 1) and
(9y − x ) respectively.
Find the values of x and y .
(4 marks)
(b) Let Sn denote the sum of the first n terms of the sequence.
Find the largest value of n such that S < 800 .

n
(3 marks)
9 (a) Guy starts a new job where his base salary is $ x per year and his salary will increase by $
y every year for z years.
Given that at the end of z years Guy will have earned $367 200 and his salary after z
years will be $37 200, show that
734 400 = z (x + 37 200)
(3 marks)
z
(b) Additionally, given that after years Guy’s salary will be $26 400, show that
4
14 400 = zy
(2 marks)
(c) Find the values of x , y and z .
(4 marks)
⎛x ⎞⎟
10 (a) In an arithmetic sequence u = logb ⎜⎜ ⎟ and u 2 = logb (x ) , where k > 1 and
1
⎝y ⎠
x, y > 0.
Show that d = logb y .
(2 marks)
(b) Let x = b 5 and y = b 7 . Find the value of ∑6n = 1u n .
(6 marks)
11 (a) The first three terms of a geometric sequence are 2p + 3, 3 and p − 2, where p ∈ ℤ.
Show that p satisfies the equation 2p 2 − p − 15 = 0 .
(5 marks)
(b) Given that the sequence has an infinite sum, find the value of
(i) p
(ii) r.
(4 marks)
(c) Find the sum of the sequence.
(2 marks)

1-3-sequences--series--

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

1-3-sequences--series--

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

1-3-sequences--series--

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

IB DP Maths 5 hours 40 questions

1.3 Sequences &

Medium (16 questions) /105 Scan here to return to the course

Very Hard (11 questions) /90

Total Marks /304

Find the common ratio, r , of the sequence.

(b) Find the first term of the sequence, u .

(c) Find S 5 , the sum of the first 5 terms of the sequence.

Give your answer correct to 2 decimal places.

Calculate a 1, a 4 and the common difference, d , given that a n is an arithmetic sequence.

(i) Find the common difference, d , of the arithmetic sequence.

(ii) Find the first term of the arithmetic sequence.

Find the distance Marie ran in the 10th week.

(b) Find the week in which Marie runs 26.5 km.

Find the week in which Marie will complete this.

(i) Find the first term of the arithmetic sequence.

(ii) Find the value of u .

(ii) Find the first term of the geometric sequence.

(i) Find the first term, u .

(b) Find the value of the infinite sum of the sequence.

(i) Find the common difference, d , of the arithmetic sequence.

(ii) Find the first term of the arithmetic sequence.

Find the distance Aaron cycles in the fifth month of preparation.

Find u and d for the arithmetic sequence.

Determine the value of r .

Given that u = 5.75, find:

Find the 10th term of the sequence.

(b) Find the sum of the first 21 terms of the sequence.

Give your answer in the form a × 10k , where 1 ≤ a < 10 and k ∈ ℤ .

an 0.1 2.7 24.3

bn 24.6 -19 − 62.6

cn 880 220 − 27.5

Determine whether a is an arithmetic or geometric sequence and fill in the table

(b) Find the exact value of the infinite sequence.

(b) (i) State who swims the 2000 m the fastest.

n=1 n=2 n=3 n=4 n=5 n=6

State which sequence is arithmetic, and which is geometric.

(b) Fill in the missing values in the table.

(c) Find the largest value of such that a < bn .

Find the common ratio, r , of the geometric sequence.

(d) Find the total distance travelled by the ball.

Assuming the increase in Grace’s followers forms a geometric sequence, calculate:

Find the week in which Grace will reach 10 000 followers.

Estimate the value of Georgia's computer after 6 years.

(i) the value of k

(ii) the estimated value after k years.

Find the common difference and the first term.

Find the common ratio, r .

(c) Find u . Give your answer as a fraction.

(b) A ticket to one of the matches costs $12.

Ben takes a total of 42 minutes to complete the race.

Calculate Ben’s mean lap time in seconds.

Find the possible values of the second term.

Find the values of x and y .

Find the largest value of n such that S < 800 .

734 400 = z (x + 37 200)

(c) Find the values of x , y and z .

Show that d = logb y .

(b) Let x = b 5 and y = b 7 . Find the value of ∑6n = 1u n .

Show that p satisfies the equation 2p 2 − p − 15 = 0 .