Arithmetic Sequences

Maths: Edexcel A Level Pure Maths, topic 4.2.4

Arithmetic Sequence

Terms in arithmetic sequences change by a constant amount each time.

Arithmetic sequence

Arithmetic sequence

An arithmetic sequence is a sequence that has the property that the difference between any two consecutive terms is a constant.
This difference is called the common difference, and is represented by the symbol $d$ .

Explicit formula

Explicit formula

Given the first term and the common difference of an arithmetic sequence, we can find the nth term of the sequence a_n by using the explicit fomula:
$a_n = a_1 + (n-1)d$
Where $n\geq2$ .

Recursive formula

Recursive formula

Some arithmetic sequences are defined in terms of the previous term using a recursive formula:
$a_n = a_{n-1} + d$
Where $n\geq 2$ .

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