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Activities Using WA
WA Activity # 10 ‐‐ Additional Topics: Sequences and Series
Type "3, 6, 12, 24, ...” into the WA search engine. Use the results to answer the following
questions.
1. Does WA recognize this as a possible sequence?
2. Is this an arithmetic sequence, an arithmetic series, a geometric sequence, a geometric
series, or none of these? Why?
3. What is the formula for this sequence?
Type “5, 1, ‐3, ‐7, ...” into the WA search engine. Use the results to answer the following
questions.
4. Does WA recognize this as a possible sequence?
5. Is this an arithmetic sequence, an arithmetic series, a geometric sequence, a geometric
series, or none of these? Why?
6. What is the formula for this sequence?
Type “4, 20, 100, 500, ...” into the WA search engine. Use the results to answer the following
questions.
7. What is the formula for this sequence?
8. What is the 9th term of this sequence?
9. Type “4 + 20 + 100 + 500 + … + 1,562,500” into the WA search engine. Is this an arithmetic
sequence, an arithmetic series, a geometric sequence, a geometric series, or none of these?
Why?
10. The large symbol is the Greek capital letter sigma meaning “sum” in mathematics. What is
the sum of the first nine terms of this sequence?
Type “fibonacci sequence” into the WA search engine. Use the results to answer the following
questions.
11. What are the first eleven terms Fn in the Fibonacci sequence?
12. Click on “use as a word instead.” What is the definition of the Fibonacci sequence?
13. Do the results from #11 above match the definition above?
Additional Topics 2 Intermediate Algebra
Activities Using WA
Type “primes <= 100” into the WA search engine. Use the results to answer the following
questions.
14. How many prime numbers are there less than or equal to 100?
15. Type “130th prime” into the WA search engine. What is the 130th prime number? Write
down a couple of the interesting properties this number has.
Additional Topics: Complex Numbers
To help us find the square root of negative numbers the imaginary unit i = is used. Pure
imaginary numbers and complex numbers (part real, part imaginary) actually have an
application in real life, to compare the timing of electrical voltage peaks with current peaks.
16. Type ”i^2” into the WA search engine. What is the result?
17. Type “i^3” into the WA search engine. What is the result?
18. Type “i^4” into the WA search engine. What is the result?
19. Type “i^5” into the WA search engine. What is the result? Do you see the pattern?
20. Type “i^43” into the WA search engine. What is the result?
21. Type “sqrt(‐16)“ into the WA search engine. What is the result?
22. Type “sqrt(‐18)“ What is the result? How did WA get their result? Show your work.
23. Type “(4 ‐ sqrt(‐12)) / 2” into the WA search engine. How did WA get their result? Show
your work.
24. Type “(2i + 3) (‐3i – 5)” into the WA search engine. How did WA get their result? Show your
work.
25. Type “(3i – 7)^4” into the WA search engine. What is the result?
26. Type “(4 + 3i) / (1 – 3i)” into the WA search engine. How did WA get their result? Show your
work.
Additional Topics: Conic Sections
Additional Topics 3 Intermediate Algebra
Activities Using WA
27. Type “distance between (2, ‐11), (‐4, 13)” into the WA search engine. How did WA get their
result? Show your work.
28. Type “line segment midpoint with endpoints (12,‐7), (‐4, 9)” into the WA search engine.
How did WA get their result? Show your work.
29. Type “circle radius 6 center (4,‐7)” into the WA search engine. What is the equation of the
circle? What is the area of the circle? Give the exact area in terms of pi and a decimal
approximation to three places. What does WA call the circumference of the circle? What is it?
30. Type “x^2 + y^2 + 10x ‐ 4y + 13 = 0” into the WA search engine. What is the center of the
circle? The radius? How did WA get their result? Show your work.
31. Type “circle center (‐5, 8) containing (3, 2)” into the WA search engine. What is the equation
of the circle? How did WA get their result? Show your work.
32. Type “(y + 2)^2 = 4(x ‐ 1)” into the WA search engine. What is the shape of this geometric
figure? Does it open left, right, up or down? What is the vertex, focus and directrix of the
parabola?
33. Type “x^2 ‐ 4x + 3y ‐ 8 = 0” into the WA search engine. What is the shape of this geometric
figure? Does it open left, right, up or down? What is the vertex, focus and directrix of the
parabola?
34. Type “16x^2 + 25y^2 = 225” into the WA search engine. What is the shape of this geometric
figure? Does the graph look like an ellipse? Why or why not? What is the center of the ellipse?
What are the foci?
35. Type “16y^2 ‐ 25x^2 = 1600” into the WA search engine. What is the shape of this
geometric figure? Does it open sideways, or vertically? What is the center of the hyperbola?
What are the foci?