Common Core State Standards

CC-11 Geometric Sequences

MACC.912.F-BF.1.2 Write . . . geometric sequences
both recursively and with an explicit formula, use them to
model situations, and translate between the two forms.
Also MACC.912.F-BF.1.1a, MACC.912.F-LE.1.2
MP 1, MP 2, MP 3, MP 4, MP 6

Objective To write and use recursive formulas for geometric sequences

Imagine working part time at a clothing

store. Each week a coat doesn’t sell,
its price is marked down 20%. What
will the sale price for the coat shown
What happens as
at the right be after three weeks?
a number grows
or shrinks by the
same factor? Try
it here, and this
lesson will show
you an easier way
to find out.

MATHEMATICAL
PRACTICES In the Solve It, the sales prices form a geometric sequence.

Essential Understanding In a geometric sequence, the ratio of any term to its

preceding term is a constant value.
Lesson
Vocabulary
• geometric
sequence
Key Concept Geometric Sequence
A geometric sequence with a starting value a and a common ratio r is a sequence of the form
a, ar, ar 2, ar 3, . . .
A recursive definition for the sequence has two parts:
a1 = a Initial condition
#
an = an-1 r, for n Ú 2 Recursive formula
An explicit definition for this sequence is a single formula:
#
an = a1 r n-1 , for n Ú 1
Every geometric sequence has a starting value and a common ratio. The starting value and
common ratio define a unique geometric sequence.

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 Problem 1 Identifying Geometric Sequences

How do you find

Which of the following are geometric sequences?
the common ratio A 20 200 2,000 20,000 200,000, . . .
between two
adjacent terms?  10  10  10  10
Divide each term by the
previous term. There is a common ratio, r = 10. So, the sequence is geometric.

B 2 4 6 8 10, . . .

2  1.5  1.33  1.25

There is no common ratio. So, the sequence is not geometric.
C 5 5 5 5 5, . . .

 1  1  1  1
There is a common ratio, r = -1. So, the sequence is geometric.

Got It? 1. Which of the following are geometric sequences? If the sequence is not
geometric, is it arithmetic?
a. 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, . . . b. 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, . . .
1 1 1 1
c. 3, 9, 27, 81, . . . d. 4, 7, 11, 16, 22, . . .

Any geometric sequence can be written with both an explicit and a recursive formula.
The recursive formula is useful for finding the next term in the sequence. The explicit
formula is more convenient when finding the nth term.

Problem 2 Finding Recursive and Explicit Formulas

Find the recursive and explicit formulas for the sequence 7, 21, 63, 189, . . .

What do you need

to know in order to The starting value a1 is 7. The common ratio r is 21
7 = 3.
write recursive and
explicit formulas for a a1 = a; an = an-1 #r Use the formula. an = a1 # r n-1
a1 = 7; an = an-1 # r # r n-1
geometric sequence?
You need the common Substitute the starting value for a1 . an = 7
a1 = 7; an = an-1 # 3 an = 7 # 3 n-1
ratio and the starting
value. Substitute the common ratio for r.

# 3. # 3 n-1.
The recursive formula is The explicit formula is
a1 = 7; an = an-1 an = 7

Got It? 2. Find the recursive and explicit formulas for each of the following.
a. 2, 4, 8, 16, . . . b. 40, 20, 10, 5, . . .

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 Problem 3 Using Sequences
Two managers at a clothing store created sequences to show the original price
and the marked-down prices of an item. Write a recursive formula and an
explicit formula for each sequence. What will the price of the item be after the 6th
markdown?
First Sequence Second Sequence
+60, +51, +43.35, +36.85, . . . +60, +52, +44, +36, . . .
Which term number common ratio = 0.85 common difference = -8
represents the 6th
markdown? a1 = 60 a1 = 60
The 1st term represents #
an = an-1 0.85 Recursive formula an = an-1 - 8
the original price, the
2nd term represents
#
an = 60 0.85n-1 Explicit formula an = -8(n - 1) + 60

a7 = 60 # 0.857-1
the 1st markdown, the
3rd term represents the Substitute 7 for n. a7 = -8(7 - 1) + 60
2nd markdown, and so a7 ≈ +22.63 Simplify. a7 = +12
on. Therefore, the 7th
term represents the 6th The price continuing the first sequence is $22.63 after the 6th markdown.
markdown. The price continuing the second sequence is $12 after the 6th markdown.

Got It? 3. Write a recursive formula and an explicit formula for each sequence. Find
the 8th term of each sequence.
a. 14, 84, 504, 3024, . . . b. 648, 324, 162, 81, . . .

You can also represent a sequence by using function notation. This allows you to plot
the sequence using the points (n, an), where n is the term number and an is the term.

Problem 4 Writing Geometric Sequences as Functions

A geometric sequence has an initial value of 6 and a common ratio of 2. Write a function to
represent the sequence. Graph the function.
#
an = a1 r n-1 Explicit formula

What is the domain of f (x) = 6 # 2x-1 Substitute f (x) for an , 6 for a1 , and 2 for r.
100
y
the sequence? What
is the domain of the
The function f (x) = 6 # 2x-1 represents the geometric (5, 96)

sequence. 80
function?
The domain of the 60
sequence is positive Determine the first few terms of the sequence by using the function.
integers ≥ 1. The domain f (2) = 6 # 22-1 = 12 f (4) = 6 # 24 - 1 = 48 40
(4, 48)
of the function is all real
numbers. f (3) = 6 # 23-1 = 24 f (5) = 6 # 25-1 = 96 20 (3, 24)
(2, 12) x
Plot the points (1, 6), (2, 12), (3, 24), (4, 48), and (5, 96).
O 2 4 6 8
Got It? 4. A geometric sequence has an initial value of 2 and a
common ratio of 3. Write a function to represent the
sequence. Graph the function.

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 Lesson Check
MATHEMATICAL
Do you know HOW? Do you UNDERSTAND? PRACTICES
Are the following geometric sequences? If so, find the 8. Error Analysis A friend says that the
common ratio. recursive formula for the geometric sequence
1. 3, 9, 27, 81, . . .
#
1, -1, 1, -1, 1, . . . is an = 1 ( -1)n-1 . Explain your
friend’s error and give the correct recursive formula
2. 200, 50, 12.5, 3.125, . . . for the sequence.
3. 10, 8, 6, 4, . . . 9. Critical Thinking Describe the similarities and
Write the explicit and recursive formulas for each differences between arithmetic and geometric
geometric sequence. sequences.
4. 5, 20, 80, 320, . . . 5. 4, -8, 16, -32, . . .
6. 162, 108, 72, 48, . . . 7. 3, 6, 12, 24, . . .

MATHEMATICAL
Practice and Problem-Solving Exercises PRACTICES

A Practice Determine whether the sequence is a geometric sequence. Explain. See Problem 1.
10. 2, 8, 32, 128, . . . 11. 5, 10, 15, 20, . . . 12. 162, 54, 18, 6, . . .
13. 256, 192, 144, 108, . . . 14. 6, -12, 24, -48, . . . 15. 10, 20, 40, 80, . . .

Find the common ratio for each geometric sequence.

16. 3, 6, 12, 24, . . . 17. 81, 27, 9, 3, . . . 18. 128, 96, 72, 54, . . .
19. 5, 20, 80, 320, . . . 20. 7, -7, 7, -7, . . . 21. 2, -6, 18, -54, . . .

Write the explicit formula for each geometric sequence. See Problem 2.
3
22. 2, 6, 18, 54, . . . 23. 3, 6, 12, 24, . . . 24. 200, 40, 8, 15, . . .
25. 3, -12, 48, -192, . . . 26. 8, -8, 8, -8, . . . 27. 686, 98, 14, 2, . . .

Write the recursive formula for each geometric sequence.

28. 4, 8, 16, 32, . . . 29. 1, 5, 25, 125, . . . 30. 100, 50, 25, 12.5, . . .
1 1 3 8
31. 2, -8, 32, -64, . . . 32. - 36 , 12, - 14, 4, . . . 33. 192, 128, 8513, 569, . . .

STEM 34. Science When a radioactive substance decays, measurements of the amount See Problem 3.
remaining over constant intervals of time form a geometric sequence. The table 
shows the amount of Fl-18, remaining after different
Fluorine-18 Remaining
constant intervals. Write the explicit and recursive
formulas for the geometric sequence formed by the Time (min) 0 110 220 330
amount of Fl-18 remaining. Fl-18 (picograms) 260 130 65 32.5

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 35. A store manager plans to offer discounts on some sweaters according to this sequence:
$48, $36, $27, $20.25, . . . Write the explicit and recursive formulas for the sequence.
1
36. A geometric sequence has an initial value of 18 and a common ratio of 2 . Write a See Problem 4.
function to represent this sequence. Graph the function.

37. Write and graph the function that represents

the sequence in the table. x 1 2 3 4
f(x) 8 16 32 64

B Apply Determine if each sequence is a geometric sequence. If it is, find the common
ratio and write the explicit and recursive formulas.
38. 5, 10, 20, 40, . . . 39. 20, 15, 10, 5, . . . 40. 3, -9, 27, -81, . . .
41. 98, 14, 2, 27, . . . 42. -3, -1, 1, 3, . . . 43. 200, -100, 50, -25, . . .

Identify each sequence as arithmetic, geometric, or neither.

44. 1.5, 4.5, 13.5, 40.5, . . . 45. 42, 38, 34, 30, . . . 46. 4, 9, 16, 25, . . .
47. -4, 1, 6, 11, . . . 48. 1, 2, 3, 5, . . . 49. 2, 8, 32, 128, . . .
50. Think about a Plan Suppose you are rehearsing for a concert. You plan to rehearse
the piece you will perform four times the first day and then to double the number of
times you rehearse the piece each day until the concert. What are two formulas you
can write to describe the sequence of how many times you will rehearse the piece
each day?
• How can you write a sequence of numbers to represent this situation?
• Is the sequence arithmetic, geometric, or neither?
• How can you write explicit and recursive formulas for this sequence?
51. Open-Ended Write a geometric sequence. Then write the explicit and recursive
formulas for your sequence.
STEM 52. Science A certain culture of yeast increases by 50% every three hours. A scientist
places 9 grams of the yeast in a culture dish. Write the explicit and recursive
formulas for the geometric sequence formed by the growth of the yeast.
C Challenge 53. The differences between consecutive terms in a geometric sequence form a
new geometric sequence. For instance, when you take the differences between
the consecutive terms of the geometric sequence 5, 15, 45, 135, . . . you get
15 - 5, 45 - 15, 135 - 45, . . . The new geometric sequence is 10, 30, 90, . . .
Compare the two sequences. How are they similar, and how do they differ?

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