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Geometric sequences calculator

This tool can help you find $n^{th}$ term and the sum of the first $n$ terms of a geometric progression. Also, this calculator can be used to solve more complicated problems. For example, the calculator can find the first term ($a_1$) and common ratio ($r$) if $a_2 = 6 $ and $a_5 = 48$. The calculator will generate all the work with detailed explanation.

problem

$$ a_1 = 1 ~,~ r = 5 ~,~ S_n = 3906 ~,~ n = ? $$

solution

$$ n = 6 $$

explanation

To find $ n $ we use formula

$$ \color{blue}{S_n = a_1 \cdot \frac{1-r^n}{1-r}}$$

In this example we have $ a_1 = 1 ~~,~~ r = 5 ~~,~~ S_n = 3906 $. After substituting these values to above formula, we obtain:

$$ \begin{aligned} S_n &= a_1 \cdot \frac{1-r^n}{1-r} \\[1 em] 3906 &= 1 \cdot \frac{ 1-5^n}{1 - 5} \\[1 em] 1-5^n &= \frac{ 3906}{ 1} \cdot \left(1 - 5 \right) \\[1 em] 1-5^n &= -15624 \\[1 em] 5^n &= 15625 \\[1 em] \log \left( 5^n \right) &= \log \left(15625 \right) \\[1 em] n \cdot \log \left( 5 \right) &= \log \left(15625 \right) \\[1 em] n &= 6 \end{aligned} $$

The first few terms of this sequence are:

$$ 1, ~~~5, ~~~25, ~~~125 . . . $$

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Script name : geometric-sequences-calculator

Form values: 2 , 1 , 5 , 3906 , g , , , , , ,

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Geometric Sequences Calculator
Find n - th term and the sum of the first n terms.
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an ( the the n-th term )
Sn ( the sum of the first n terms )
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Geometric Sequences Calculator
Find first term and/or common ratio.
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Enter values in two out of four rows.

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Geometric Sequences Calculator
Find number of terms.
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Enter values in three out of four rows.

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examples
example 1:ex 1:
Find the sum $\sum\limits_{i=0}^{12} 3 \cdot 2^i $.
example 2:ex 2:
Find the common ratio if the fourth term in geometric series is $\frac{4}{3}$ and the eighth term is $\frac{64}{243}$.
example 3:ex 3:
The first term of a geometric progression is 1, and the common ratio is 5 determine how many terms must be added together to give a sum of 3906.

About this calculator

Definition:

Geometric sequence is a list of numbers where each term is obtained by multiplying the previous term by a constant. The constant is called the common ratio ($r$).

Formulas:

The formula for finding $n^{th}$ term of a geometric progression is $\color{blue}{a_n = a_1 \cdot r^{n-1}}$, where $\color{blue}{a_1}$ is the first term and $\color{blue}{r}$ is the common ratio. The formulas for the sum of first $n$ numbers are $\color{blue}{S_n = a_1 \frac{1-r^n}{1-r}}$.

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