Lesson Worksheet: Sum of a Finite Geometric Sequence Mathematics
In this worksheet, we will practice calculating calculate the sum of the terms in a geometric sequence with a finite number of terms.
Q1:
The sum of the terms of a sequence is called a series.
A geometric series is the sum of a geometric sequence; a geometric series with terms can be written as where is the first term and is the common ratio (the number you multiply one term by to get the next term in the sequence, ).
Find the sum of the first 6 terms of a geometric series with and .
- A
- B
- C
- D204
- E
Q3:
Find, to two decimal places, the sum of the following geometric series:
Q4:
We can find a formula for the sum of a geometric series. Consider the series
Multiply the expression for by , the common ratio.
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So, we have and
The right-hand sides of the equations are very similar. Identify the terms that do not appear on the right-hand side of both equations.
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- C,
- D,
- E,
Now, consider the subtraction
Use the answer to the previous part to simplify the subtraction .
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Factor both sides of the equation.
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Rearrange the equation to make the subject of the formula.
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Q5:
There are two geometric series with a first term of 3 and whose first 3 terms have a sum of 21.
What are their common ratios?
- A3,
- B,
- C, 3
- D2,
- E, 7
Write an expression for the sum of the first terms of the sequence described above that has a positive common ratio.
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Q10:
Find, in terms of and , the common ratio of the geometric sequence given the sum of the first ten terms is and the sum of the next ten terms is .
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Q15:
Find the geometric sequence and the sum of the first six terms given that the sum of the second and fourth terms is and the sum of the third and fifth terms is .
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- B,
- C,
- D,
- E,
Q17:
Find the number of terms of the geometric sequence for which the sum is equal to 93.
Q18:
Find the least number of terms of the geometric sequence given the first term is 1 and the fourth term is 125, where the sum of the terms is 7,143.
Q20:
Find the geometric sequence and the sum of the first seven terms given , and all terms are positive.
- A,
- B,
- C,
- D,
- E,
Q22:
Find the geometric sequence and the sum of the first five terms given the sum of the first three terms is 1 and the sum of the next three terms is 27.
- A,
- B,
- C,
- D,
- E,
Q23:
Find the number of terms of the geometric sequence for which the sum is equal to 2,783.