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Sequences and Series

Question 1

[Maximum mark: 6]



Consider an arithmetic sequence in which \( u_5 = 18 \) and \( u_9 = 30 \).



a) Find \( d \)


b) Find \( u_1 \)


c) Find \( u_n \)

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Question 2

[Maximum mark: 10]



Find the value of the following infinite geometric series.


a) \( \sum_{i=1}^{\infty} \frac{2}{7^{i}} \)


b) \( \sum_{j=1}^{\infty} 0.6^{j} \)


c) \( 270 - 90 + 30 - 10 + \ldots \)


d) \( 270 + 90 + 30 + 10 + \ldots \)


e) \( 10 + 30 + 90 + 270 + \ldots \)

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Question 3

[Maximum mark: 7]



Consider a geometric sequence in which \( u_1 = 15 \) and \(r = \frac{1}{3}\)


a) Find \( u_5 \)


b) Which will be the first term with its value below 1?


c) Find \( S_7 \)


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Question 4

[Maximum mark: 5]



Consider a sequence: \(80, 20, 5, \frac{5}{4}...\)



a) Is this sequence geometric? If yes, why? If not, what type of a sequence is it?


b) Hence, find \( S_{10} \). Round your answer to two decimal points.


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Question 5

[Maximum mark: 8]



On the first day of March 2023, Alex planted 12 flowers in his garden. The number of flowers he plants on each subsequent day of the month forms an arithmetic sequence. The number of flowers he is going to plant on the last day of March is 72.


a) Find the common difference of this arithmetic sequence.


b) Calculate the total number of flowers Alex is going to plant during March.


c) Alex initially estimated that he would plant 1200 flowers in the month of March. Calculate the percentage error in Alex's estimate.

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Question 6

[Maximum mark: 10]



A population of birds on an island starts at 25000 at the end of 2015 and it is expected to grow by 15% each year.


a) Find the general formula of this sequence.


b) Find the expected population size at the end of 2018, rounded to 2 decimal points.


c) Find the number of full years it will take it to reach 70000.


d) If the actual population after 7 years is 60000, calculate the percentage error, rounded to two decimal points.

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Question 7

[Maximum mark: 5]



A dad took his daughter to a playing ground. They start playing on a swing, where the first swing was 3m long and every next swing was 90% of the previous one. Her dad gives her a push when the length of the swing falls below 0.5m.


a) Find the length of the fourth swing.


b) How many swings will it take for the dad to need to give a push?

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Question 8

[Maximum mark: 8]



Jake has a car shop in which he sells two car brands: Brand A and Brand B. Brand A costs more, $30,000, and its depreciation is 15% per year. Cars of Brand B cost $25,000.


Mike bought one of the cars from Brand B, and turns out that after two years it is worth $20,250.


a) Calculate the depreciation rate of Brand B.


b) What will be the value of a car from Brand A after 5 years? (round to 2 decimals)


c) Find how many years will it take for the car from Brand B to be worth more than the car from Brand A. Round your answer to two decimals

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Question 9

[Maximum mark: 10]



Let \(u_n = 4n + 3\), for \(n \in \mathbb{Z}^+\)


a) Is this series geometric or arithmetic?


b) Hence, find the common difference.


c) Represent the sum of the first 5 terms using sigma notation.


d) Find the sum of the first 10 terms of this series.

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Question 10

[Maximum mark: 12]



Consider a sequence in which its respective terms are:

\[u_2 = 250, \ u_3 = 275, \ u_4 = 300\]

You may assume that the sequence continues in the same pattern.


a) Find the value of \( u_{25} \).


b) Find the sum of the first 15 terms of this sequence.


c) Find the first term of the sequence which crosses the value of 1000.


Now, consider another sequence, where:

\[w_3 = 9, \ w_4 = 27, \ w_5 = 81\]


d) Find \( w_1 \)


e) Represent the sum of the first 4 terms of this sequence with the sigma notation.


f) Find the first term at which the second sequence will have a greater value than the first sequence.

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Question 11Register

[Maximum mark: 8]



Lisa invests $12,000 into a savings account that pays an annual interest rate of 4.75%, compounded annually.


Round your answers to two decimal points.


a) Write down a formula which calculates the total value of the investment after “n” years.


b) Calculate the amount of money in the savings account after:

i. 2 years

ii. 5 years

iii. 10 years


c) Lisa wants to use this money to put down a $15,000 deposit on her car. Determine if she will be able to do this within a 5-year timeframe.

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Question 12Register

[Maximum mark: 8]



Emma buys a car for $32,500. The value of the car depreciates by 10% each year.


Round your answers to two decimal points.


a) Find the value of the car after 8 years.


Alex buys a car for $18,000. The car depreciates by a fixed percentage each year, and after 5 years, it is worth $9,200.


b) Determine the annual rate of depreciation for Alex's car.

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Question 13Register

[Maximum mark: 7]



Jerry takes out a loan of $60,000 to finance his business activities. He agrees to pay back the bank $1000 at the end of every month to amortize the loan. Interest accumulates at the rate of 5% per year, compounded monthly.


Round your answers to the nearest integer.


a) Find the number of years and months it will take to pay back the loan.


b) Calculate the total amount that Jerry pays in amortizing the loan.


Tom, Jerry’s friend, also gets the same loan but manages to negotiate the interest rate to 4% per year. How much less in total will Tom pay compared to Jerry?


c) How much less in total will Tom pay compared to Jerry?

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Question 14Register

[Maximum mark: 7]



John bought a Honda motorcycle for $20,000 which depreciates by 4% each year.


a) Find the total amount the motorcycle will depreciate after 6 years (round your answer to two decimal points).


The value of a Suzuki motorcycle that John was considering which costs $25,000 but its value depreciates by 9% each year.


b) What will be the difference in the values of Honda and Suzuki motorcycles after 3 years? (round your answer to two decimal points)


c) After how many full years will the value of Honda motorcycle be higher than that of Suzuki?

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Question 15Premium

[Maximum mark: 6]



Mark currently has $10,000 which he wants to double his money quickly. The first option is safer, meaning he puts money into a savings account, which has an annual interest rate of 5.5% compounded quarterly.


a) How many years will it take Mark to double his money with this method? Round your answer to two decimals.


He thinks the time taken for doubling with the first method is too long, so he finds another one – investing in a high-growth stock with large risk associated to it. He thinks he will be able to double his money in 6 years with that option.


b) What interest rate (compounded yearly) does this option need to have for him to double his money in 4 years? Round your answer to two decimals.

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Question 16Premium

[Maximum mark: 10]



Adam wants to purchase the latest iMac which he needs for his company work. It needs to be a very powerful computer to satisfy his needs, and it costs $10,000. He doesn’t have that much money in the bank, but the store he buys it at offers a financing option. They offer him a 20% deposit which is followed by 10 monthly payments of $1100.


a) Find how much is the deposit.


b) Calculate the total cost of this loan.


Adam has a friend who has another company. His friend agrees to offer him a loan without any interest of $10,000. They then agree that Adam will pay his friend \( x ($) \) at the end of the first month and \( y ($) \) at the end of every month after that.


c) Write down the second equation involving \( x \) and \( y \) representing the money paid back after 12 months.


d) Find the value of \( x \) and \( y \).


e) Calculate the number of months it will take Adam to fully repay the loan to his friend.


Adam has some doubts about taking money from his friend, so finally, he also finds a third option to finance his new iMac - by taking out a loan from the bank. The loan states that Adam will have to pay $900 at the end of every month and that the interest accumulates at the rate of 4.5% compounded monthly.


f) Calculate how many full months it will take for Adam to pay it back.


g) Calculate the total amount of the loan.

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Question 17Premium

[Maximum mark: 6]



An infinite amount of clients enter a bar. The first client asks the bartender for a pint of beer. The second client asks for half a pint. The third client asks for a quarter of a pint, the fourth asks for an eighth of a pint.


As the fifth client approaches, the bartender stops him before he can speak, places two pints on the counter, and tells the group to sort it out among themselves.


Explain the bartender's reasoning.

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Question 18Premium

[Maximum mark: 8]



We consider the number 5.7777...


a) Express the decimal part of this number as the sum to infinity of a geometric series.


b) Find the value of this sum.


c) Express \(5.7777 \ldots\) as a fraction.

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Question 19Premium

[Maximum mark: 6]



Sam invests $40,000 into an investment fund which pays a nominal annual interest rate of 5.5% compounded monthly.


Round your answers to two decimal points.


a) Calculate the money in his investment fund after 5 years.


b) How many years will it take for the money to reach $60,000?

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Question 20Premium

[Maximum mark: 6]



In 2010, Sam put $12,000 into his savings account with a 5% interest rate p.a. compounded quarterly.


Round your answers to two decimal points.


a) How much money will be in his bank account after 3 years?


b) Without calculating, do you think the value will be higher or lower if the interest was compounded yearly?


c) Calculate the value after 3 years with yearly compounding.

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Question 21Premium

[Maximum mark: 6]



Tony buys a BMW for $35,000. It is known that the value of the car depreciates by 8% every year.


Round your answers to two decimal points.


a) Find the difference between the starting car value and the car value after it has depreciated for 5 years. Round your answer to two decimal points.


The value of a Mercedes depreciates by 5% every year.


b) What would have to be the value of this Mercedes such that the value of BMW is equal to the value of Mercedes after 6 years of both cars depreciating? Round your answer to two decimal points.

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Question 22Premium

[Maximum mark: 13]



The third term of a geometric sequence \(a_{n}\) is 108 and the sixth term is 32.


a) Find the common ratio of the sequence.


b) Find the first term of the sequence.


c) Find the value of \(\sum_{i=2}^{10} a_{n}\), and give it to three significant figures.


d) Find the value of the sum to infinity \(\sum_{i=1}^{\infty} a_{n}\).


e) Give the value of \(\sum_{i=1}^{\infty}\left(a_{n}\right)-3 a_{1}\).

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Question 23Premium

[Maximum mark: 15]



A geometric series has first term \(a_{1}\) and common ratio \(r\).


a) Give the general formula of the sequence \(a_{n}\).


b) Express \(a_{2}\) as a function of \(a_{1}\).


The sum to infinity of the series is 10, and \( a_2 = \frac{5}{2} \).


c) Show that \( 10(1-r) = \frac{5}{2r} \).


d) Find the value of \(r\).


e) Find the value of \(a_1\).


f) Express the general formula again with the values you found.

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