Question

Part 1: Create a scenario for an arithmetic sequence. For example, Jasmine practices the piano for ______ minutes on Monday. Every day she ___________ her practice time by _________. If she continues this pattern, how many minutes will she practice on the 7th day? Be sure to fill in the blanks with the words that will create an arithmetic sequence. Use your scenario to write the function for the 7th term in your sequence using sequence notation.

Part 2: Create a scenario for a geometric sequence. For example, Anthony goes to the gym for ______ minutes on Monday. Every day he _________his gym time by ____________. If he continues this pattern, how many minutes will he spend at the gym on the 5th day? Be sure to fill in the blanks with the words that will create a geometric sequence. Use your scenario to write the formula for the 5th term in your sequence using sequence notation.

Part 3: Use your scenario from part 2 to write a question that will lead to using the geometric series formula. Use the formula to solve for Sn in your scenario.

Answer 1

Part 1: Create a scenario for an arithmetic sequence. For example, Jasmine practices the piano for ten minutes on Monday. Every day she adds her practice time by five minutes. If she continues this pattern, in the 7th day she will practice for 10 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 10 + 6(5) = 10 + (7 - 1)(5) = 20 + 30 = 40 minutes.
Hence the function for the 7th term in the sequence is a + (7 - 1)d = a + 6d where a is the number of minutes Jasmine practiced the piano on Monday and d is the additional number of minutes added by Jasmine to his practice time evey day.