Module II:

THE NATURE OF MATHEMATICS

I. Introduction

In our modern world, the usefulness of mathematics is inevitable. Mathematics is

used in different fields to calculate effectively the results of different activities, predict the
behavior of a variable when the other variables are known. We look at mathematics as a
useful way to think about the nature and the world in general; thus patterns and numbers that
are useful in this world will be dealt with to think about the Fibonacci sequence and other
arrays of number in order to predict and control the behavior of nature and phenomena in this
world.

II. Learning Objectives

1. Identify patterns in nature and regularities in the world
2. Articulate the importance of mathematics in one’s life
3. Argue about the nature of mathematics, what is it, how it is expressed, represented, and
used
4. Express appreciation for mathematics as a human endeavor

III. Topics and Key Concepts

A. Seeing Math Patterns in Nature : https://www.slideshare.net/MaryVanDyke/seeing-math-

patterns-in-nature?from_action=save

B. Fibonacci Sequence

The Fibonacci Sequence is the series of numbers:

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, ...

The next number is found by adding up the two numbers before it:

• the 2 is found by adding the two numbers before it (1+1),

• the 3 is found by adding the two numbers before it (1+2),
• the 5 is (2+3),
• and so on!
Example: the next number in the sequence above is 21+34 = 55

It is that simple!

Here is a longer list:

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, 4181, 6765, 10946,
17711, 28657, 46368, 75025, 121393, 196418, 317811, ...

Can you figure out the next few numbers?

Makes A Spiral

This spiral is found in nature!

The Rule

The Fibonacci Sequence can be written as a "Rule" (see Sequences and Series).

First, the terms are numbered from 0 onwards like this:

So term number 6 is called x6 (which equals 8).

Terms Below Zero
The sequence works below zero also, like this:

(Prove to yourself that each number is found by adding up the two numbers before it!)

Brief History

Fibonacci was not the first to know about the sequence, it was known in India hundreds of years
before!

His real name was Leonardo Pisano Bogollo, and he lived between 1170 and 1250 in Italy.

"Fibonacci" was his nickname, which roughly means "Son of Bonacci".

As well as being famous for the Fibonacci Sequence, he helped spread Hindu-Arabic
Numerals (like our present numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) through Europe in place of Roman
Numerals (I, II, III, IV, V, etc). That has saved us all a lot of trouble! Thank you Leonardo.

Fibonacci Day

Fibonacci Day is November 23rd, as it has the digits "1, 1, 2, 3" which is part of the sequence.
So next Nov 23 let everyone know!
C. PROGRESSIONS

In this section we discuss two important series namely

1) Arithmetic Progression (A.P.)

2) Geometric Progression (G.P.)

Arithmetic Progressions

Consider the sequence of numbers of the form 1, 4, 7,10… . In this sequence the next
term is formed by adding a constant 3 with the current term.
An arithmetic progression is a sequence in which each term (except the first term) is
obtained from the previous term by adding a constant known as the common difference.
An arithmetic series is formed by the addition of the terms in an arithmetic progression.
Let the first term on an A. P. be a , and common difference d.

Then, general form of an A. P is a , a + d , a + 2d , a + 3d , ... nth term of an

Arithmetic Progression is tn = a + (n - 1) d

Sum of first n terms of an A. P is

Sn = n/2 [2a + (n - 1) d]

or 𝑆𝑛 = n/2 [ first term + last term]

Example 1: Find (i) The nth term and (ii) Sum to n terms of the A.P. whose first term is 2
and common difference is 3.

Solution : tn = a + (n - 1) d note : 𝑎1 = a

1) tn= 2 + (n -1) 3 = 3n -1

𝑛 n
2) Sn = 2 (2 x 2 + (n -1) 3 ) = 2 (3𝑛 + 1)

Example 2: Find the sum of the first n natural numbers.

Solution :

The sum of the natural numbers is given by

Sn=1+2+3+…+ n
 This is a A.P whose first term is 1 and common difference is also one and the last term is n.
𝑛 𝑛
Sn= 2 (𝐹𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚 + 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚) = 2 (𝑛 + 1)

Example 3: Find the 15thterm & the sum of the 15 terms of the A.P. 7 , 17 , 27 , …

Solution :
a = 7, d = 17 – 7= 10 and n=15

tn = a +( n-1) d

15
t15 = a + (15-1)d = a +14d 𝑆15 = ( a + 𝑡15 )
2
15 15
= 7 + 14(10) = 2
( 7 + 147 ) = 2
(154 )
= 147 = 1155

Example 4. The third term in a sequence is 7 , and the sixth term is 16 . What is the ninth term?

Solution: 𝑡𝑛 = a + ( n ̶ 1 ) d 𝑎3 = 7 ; 𝑎6 = 16 ; 𝑎9 = ?

𝑎6 = a + ( 6 ̶ 1 ) d equation 1 ; 𝑎3 = a + ( 3 - 1) d equation 2

16 = a + 5d equation 1 7 = a + 2d equation 2

Simplifying: equation 2 ̶ equation 1 , 16 = a + 5d

7 = a + 2d

9 = 3d

3 = d

Substitute d = 3 to equation 1 or equation 2 , to get the 1st term a ,

7 = a + 2(3)

1 =a

Therefore the ninth term, 𝑡9 = 1 + ( 9 – 1 ) (3)

𝒕𝟗 = 25
Example 5. Find the last term, and the sum of the arithmetic progression 2 , ̶ 1 , ̶ 4, ̶ 7 , … to 10
terms.

Solution: 𝑎1 = 2 ; d = ̶ 1 ̶ 2 = ̶ 3 ; n = 10 note : 𝑎1 = a

solving for the last term, 𝑡𝑛 = a + ( n ̶ 1 ) d

𝑡10 = 2 + ( 10 – 1 ) ( ̶ 3) = 2 + ( 9 ) ( ̶ 3) = 2 ̶ 27 = ̶ 25
10
The sum of the 10 terms , 𝑆10 = [ 2 + ( ̶ 25) ] = 5 [ 2 ̶ 25 ]
2

𝑺𝟏𝟎 = ̶ 115

Definition : The first and the last terms in an arithmetic progression are called the arithmetic
extremes, while the terms in between are the arithmetic means.

Example 6. There are seven numbers in an arithmetic progression. The 1st number is 5 and the
last is ̶ 7 . Find the arithmetic means.

Solution : 5 , _____ , _____ , _____ , _____ , _____ , ̶ 7 note : 𝑎1 = a

𝑡𝑛 = a + ( n ̶ 1 ) d
̶ 7 = 5 +(7 ̶ 1)d
̶ 7 ̶ 5 = 6d
̶ 12 = 6d
̶2 = d

Answer : the arithmetic means : 5 , 3 , 1 , ̶ 1 , ̶ 3 , ̶ 5 , ̶ 7

Geometric Progression

Consider the sequence of numbers

a) 1, 2, 4, 8, 16…

1 1 1
b) 1, 4 , 16 , 64 …

In the above sequences each term is formed by multiplying constant with the preceding
term. For example, in the first sequence each term is formed by multiplying a constant 2
with the preceding term. Similarly, the second sequence is formed by multiplying each term
𝟏
by 𝟒 to obtain the next term. Such a sequence of numbers is called Geometric progression (G.P).

A geometric progression is a sequence in which each term (except the first

term) is derived from the preceding term by the multiplication of a non-zero constant,
which is the common ratio.

The general form of G.P is a , ar , ar,2 , ar3 , …

Here ‘ a ’ is called the first term and ‘r’ is called common ratio.
The nth term of the G.P is denoted by tn is given by tn = arn-1

Examples

1. Find the common ratio of the G.P 16, 24, 36, 54.
Solution :

𝑡2 24 3 𝑡2 𝑎2
The common ratio is 𝑡1
= 16
= 2
note : 𝑡1
= 𝑎1
𝑎1 = a
 2 8 32
2. Find the 10th term of the G.P. , ,
5 52 53

Solution:

8
2 52 8 5 4
Here a = 5 and r = 2 = × =
25 2 5
5

Since tn = a r n-1 , we get

2 4 2(218 ) 𝟐𝟏𝟗
t10 = 5 (5)9 = =
510 𝟓𝟏𝟎

Sum to infinity of a G.P.

Consider the following

1 1 1
1. 1 , , , …
2 4 8

1 1 1 1
2. 1 , – 3 , , − 27 , …
9 81

𝟏
In the first sequence, which is a G.P. the common ratio is r = . In the second G.P. the
𝟐
𝟏
common ratio is r = – 𝟑 . In these equations, we can find the “Sum to infinity” and it is given
by the form
𝑎
𝑆∞ = provided -1 < r < 1
1−𝑟

Solutions:
𝑎 𝑎
1. 𝑆∞ = 2. 𝑆∞ =
1−𝑟 1−𝑟
1 1 1
= 1 = 1 = 1
1− 1 −(− ) 1+
2 3 3
1 1 3
= 1 = 2 = 4 =
4
2 3
Examples:
1
1. Find the sum of the infinite geometric series with first term 2 and common ratio .
2
Solution:
1
Here a = 2 and r =
2
2
𝑆𝑛 = =4
1
1−2

2. Find the sum of the infinite geometric series ½ +1/4 +1/8 +1/16 +…

Solution:
1
1 1 1 1 2
+ + + +⋯= =1
2 4 8 16 1
1 − (2)

Definition:

The last term, or the nth term, 𝒕𝒏 , in a geometric progression is solved by the equation

𝒕𝒏 = 𝒂𝟏 𝒓𝒏−𝟏

where 𝑎1 is the first term ; r is the common ratio ; n is the number of terms

The first and the last terms are called the geometric extremes, while the terms in
between are the geometric means.

𝟓 𝟓 𝟓
In the example , , , , 5 , 15 , 45 , 135
𝟐𝟕 𝟗 𝟑

5 5 5
the geometric extremes are and 135 ; the geometric means are , , 5 , 15 , and 45.
27 9 3

The sum , 𝑺𝒏 , of n terms in a geometric progression is

𝒂𝟏 − 𝒂𝒏 𝒓
𝑺𝒏 = if the last term 𝑎𝑛 is given
𝟏−𝒓
or
𝒂𝟏 ( 𝟏− 𝒓𝒏 )
𝑺𝒏 = 𝟏−𝒓
More examples:

1. Find the seventh term and the sum of the terms in the geometric progression 2 , 6 , 18 , 54 , …
𝑎2 6
Solution : 𝒕𝒏 = 𝒂𝟏 𝒓𝒏−𝟏 𝑎1 = 2 ; r = = = 3 ; n = 7
𝑎1 2

𝑡7 = (2) (3)7−1 = (2) (3)6 = (2) (729)

𝒕𝟕 = 1458

𝒂𝟏 − 𝒕 𝒏 𝒓 𝒂𝟏 ( 𝟏− 𝒓𝒏 )
𝑺𝒏 = or 𝑺𝒏 =
𝟏−𝒓 𝟏−𝒓

2 − 4374 2 ( 1 −2187)
= −2
= −2
− 4372 2 ( − 2186)
= =
−2 −2
𝑺𝟕 = 2186 𝑺𝟕 = 2186

2. Find three geometric means between 5 and 80 .

Solution : 𝒕𝒏 = 𝒂𝟏 𝒓𝒏−𝟏 5 , _____ , _____ , _____ , 80 let 𝑡5 = 𝑎5

𝑡5 = 5 𝑟 5 − 1 𝑎1 𝑎5

80 = 5 𝑟 4
80 5 𝑟4
=
5 5

16 = 𝑟 4
4 4
√16 = √𝑟 4

2 = r

Answer : 5 , 10 , 20 , 40 , 80
 1
3. If the third term in a geometric progression is 2, and the fifth term is , find
2

a. the first two terms b. the sum of the first five terms

1
Solution : 𝒕𝒏 = 𝒂𝟏 𝒓𝒏−𝟏 _____ , _____ , 2 , _____ , let 𝑡𝑛 = 𝑎𝑛
2

𝑎1 𝑎2 𝑎3 𝑎5

1
a. when 𝑡5 = when 𝑡3 = 2
2

𝒕𝒏 = 𝒂𝟏 𝒓𝒏−𝟏 𝒕𝒏 = 𝒂𝟏 𝒓𝒏−𝟏

𝑡5 = 𝑎1 𝑟 5−1 𝑡3 = 𝑎1 𝑟 3−1
1
= 𝑎1 𝑟 4 equation 1 2 = 𝑎1 𝑟 2 equation 2
2

Dividing equation 1 by equation 2 ,

1
𝑎1 𝑟 4
2
=
2 𝑎1 𝑟 2

1 1
( 2 ) ( 2 ) = 𝑟2
1
= 𝑟2
4

1
√ = √r 2
4

𝟏
= r
𝟐

Substituting the value of r in equation 2 , 2 = 𝑎1 𝑟 2

1
2 = 𝑎1 ( 2 )2
1
2 = 𝑎1 ( 4 )

8 = 𝒂𝟏
The second term is 𝒕𝒏 = 𝒂𝟏 𝒓𝒏−𝟏
1
𝑎2 = 8 ( 2) 2−1
1
𝑎2 = 8 ( 2 )

𝒂𝟐 = 4 Answer : the first two terms are 8 and 4 .

b. the sum of the first five terms

𝒂𝟏 − 𝒂𝒏 𝒓 1
𝑺𝒏 = note : 𝑎𝑛 = 𝑎5 =
𝟏−𝒓 2
1 1 1 31
8 − (2)( 2) 8 − 4 7 34 31 2 62
𝑆5 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 4
1 = ( )( ) = or 15 24 or 𝟏𝟓 𝟏𝟐
1− 2 4 1 4
2 2 2

Answers :
1
_____ , _____ , 2 , _____ , 2

𝑎1 𝑎2 𝑎3 𝑎5