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1.2: Geometric Progression

The nth term of a geometric progression

Geometric Progressions (GP) is a sequence in which each term, after the first term is obtained
by multiplying its previous term by a constant.
The constant is called common ratio, r
The nth term, Tn of AP is given by: 𝑻𝒏 = 𝒂𝒓𝒏−𝟏
where a = first term , r = common ratio
A sequence is a geometric progression can be determined by

𝑻𝟒 𝑻𝟑 𝑻𝟐
= =
𝑻𝟑 𝑻𝟐 𝑻𝟏

The following shows a sequence of an geometric progression

𝒂 , 𝒂𝒓 , 𝒂𝒓𝟐 , 𝒂𝒓𝟑 , 𝒂𝒓𝟒 , … .. , 𝒂𝒓𝒏−𝟏

The sum of the first n terms

The sum of the first n terms of a geometric progression is given by the following formula

𝒂(𝒓𝒏 − 𝟏)
𝑺𝒏 = ,𝒓 > 𝟏
𝒓−𝟏

𝒂(𝟏 − 𝒓𝒏 )
𝑺𝒏 = ,𝒓 < 𝟏
𝟏−𝒓

Sum to Infinity of a Geometric Progression

 The sum to infinity of a geometric progression is given by the following formula:

𝒂
𝑺∞ = ,𝒓 > 𝟏
𝟏−𝒓

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Example 1: Determine whether each of the following is a geometric progression.

1) 4, 12, 36, 108, … 2) 7, 35, 105, 210, … 3) 2, 4, 8, 16, …

Example 2: All the following shows three consecutive terms in an GP. Find the value of x.

1) 𝑥 − 6 , 6 , 𝑥 + 10 2) 𝑥 − 3 , 𝑥 + 3 , 4𝑥 + 3 3) 𝑥 , 𝑥 + 4 , 2𝑥 + 2

Example 3: Find the 𝑛𝑡ℎ term for each of the following geometric progressions.

1) 6 , −18 , 54 , … 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 6𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚 2) 2 , 10 , 50 , … 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 11𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚

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 1 2 4
3) 21 , 63 , 189 , … 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 8𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚 4) , , , … 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 10𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚
3 3 3

Example 4: Find the number of terms for each of the following geometric progressions.

1) 24 , 36 , … , 81 2) 3 , −9 , 27 , … , −729

1 −1 1 −1
3) , 21 , 63 , … , 1701 4) 𝑘, 𝑘 4 , 𝑘 7 , … . , 𝑘 22
7

5) 5 , 10 , 20 , … , 1280 6) 6.3𝑚 , 12.6𝑚 , 25.2𝑚 , … , 100.8𝑚

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Example 5: Find the sum of the first n terms for each of the following geometric progressions.

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1) 2, 14, 98, … , 33614 2) 4, 6, 9, … , 20.25 3) 44, 22, 11, … , 2 4

2 1
4) 6, 30, 150, … , 18750 5) 2.1, 6.3, 18.9, … , 4592.7 6) −42 3 , 32, −24, … , 10 8

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Example 6: Find the sum to infinity of each of the following geometric progressions.

1 1 1
1) 4, 2, 1, … 2) 0.12, 0.024, 0.0048, … 3) , , 75 , …
3 15

Example 7: Express the following recurring decimal as a fraction in its lowest terms.

1) 0.272727 …. 2) 0.888 …

3) 0.363636 … 4) 2.454545 …

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 SPM Practice

1) In a geometric progression, the third term 2) The second term of a geometric

exceeds the first term by 9 and the sum of
the second term and the third term is 18.
Find the first term and common ratio.
a)
b)
2 1
progression is and the fourth term is .
3 54
If all the terms are positive, find
the first term and the common ratio
the nth term

3) In a GP, the sum of the second term and 4) Find the smallest term of the GP: 3, 6,
the third term is 36 and the sum of the 12,….that exceeds 200.
third term and the fourth term is 12, find
the first term and common ratio.

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5) The price of a car is RM 50000. If its 6) Azira invests RM 40000 in a finance
value decreases yearly by 8% of its value company with a simple interest of 5% per
in the previous year, find the value of the annum. Find the amount of savings after 9
car after 5 years. years.

7) The sum of the first n terms of a GP is 8) Given a geometric progression 64, 32,
189. If the first term and the second term 16,…, find the sum of all the terms from
of the GP are 3 and 6 respectively, find the sixth term to the eight term.
value of n.

9) A direct sale company started out with two members in the first generation. It is the policy of
the company that each member has to recruit another two new members under him or her.
Assuming that every member fulfils this condition, find the minimum number of generations
such that the total number of members exceeds 1200.

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10) The first term of a GP exceeds the second 11) The first three terms of a GP are k+21, k-3
term by 8 and the sum to infinity is 18. and k-11. Find the value of k, the common
Find the common ratio of the GP ratio and the sum to infinity

12) In the arrangement of the first three infinite series of similar triangles, the first triangle has a
base of b cm and a height of h cm. The measurements of the base and the height of each
subsequent triangle are half of the measurements of the previous triangle
a) Show that the areas of the triangles form a GP and state the common ratio
b) Given that b = 120 cm and h = 60 cm.
225
determine which triangle has an area of cm2
256
c) find the sum to infinity of the areas in cm2, of the triangles.

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