Sequences (AQA GCSE Maths)

Exam Questions

3 hours45 questions
1
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2 marks

The n th term of a number sequence is n squared space plus space 1

Write down the first three terms of the sequence.

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2
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1 mark

The first three terms of a geometric progression are 4 over 9 8 over 27

Circle the fourth term.

10 over 81 14 over 81 16 over 81 32 over 81

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3
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1 mark

The next term of a sequence is made by adding the previous two terms.

Which of these sequences follows this rule?
Circle your answer.

–9  2  –7  –5  –12 –3  5  –2   3  1
0  –3  –3   0  –3 –1  –1  –2  –3  1

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4
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1 mark

Which of these is a geometric progression?

Circle your answer.

1     3    5    7    9 1     3     6    10    15
1    4     9     16     25 1     3     9     27   81

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5
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1 mark

The first 4 terms of a linear sequence are

      3    11    19    27

Circle the expression for the nth term.

8 space – space 5 n n space plus space 8 8 n space plus space 3 8 n space – space 5

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6
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1 mark

Which of these is a geometric progression?
Circle your answer.

2, 4, 6, 8, 10 2, 3, 5, 8, 12
2, 6, 18, 54, 162 2, 6, 10, 14, 18

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7
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1 mark

Which sequence is a geometric progression?
Circle your answer.

1 2 3 4 1 2 4 7
1 2 4 8 1 2 3 5

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8
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1 mark

The first four terms of a sequence are    –10    –8    –6    –4

Circle the expression for the n spaceth term of the sequence.

– 12 space – space 2 n – 8 space – space 2 n n space plus space 2 2 n space – space 12

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9
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1 mark

Here is a sequence.

90 82 74 66 58

Circle the expression for the nth term of the sequence.

n space – space 8 98 space – space 8 n 8 n space plus space 82 8 n space – space 98

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10a
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1 mark

A geometric progression starts    4    16

Work out the next term.

10b
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2 marks

A Fibonacci-type sequence starts    3    –8

The sequence is continued by adding the previous two terms.

Work out the next two terms.

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11
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2 marks

Write the next term in each of these sequences.

i)
1    1    2    3    5    8

[1]

ii)
2    4    8    16    32    64

[1]

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12
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2 marks

Write an expression for thespace nth term of the sequence below.

15    12    9    6

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13
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1 mark

A sequence is defined using this term-to-term rule.

u subscript n plus 1 end subscript space equals space square root of 2 u subscript n plus space 15 end root

If u subscript 1 space equals space 5, find u subscript 2

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14
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4 marks

This expression can be used to generate a sequence of numbers.

n squared space minus space n plus 11

i)
Work out the first three terms of this sequence.

[2]

ii)
Show that this expression does not only generate prime numbers.

[2]

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1a
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2 marks

Here are the first 5 terms of an arithmetic sequence.

3     9   15   21   27

Find an expression, in terms of n, for the nth term of this sequence.

1b
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1 mark

Ben says that 150 is in the sequence.

Is Ben right?

You must explain your answer.

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2a
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2 marks

Here are the first four terms of an arithmetic sequence.

3   10   17   24

Find, in terms of n, an expression for the nth term of this arithmetic sequence.

2b
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2 marks

Is 150 a term of this sequence?

You must explain how you get your answer.

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3a
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2 marks

Here are the first five terms of an arithmetic sequence.

2   6   10   14   18

Write down an expression, in terms of n, for the nth term of this sequence.

3b
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1 mark

Is 86 a term in the sequence?

You must give a reason for your answer.

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4a
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2 marks

Here are the first four terms of an arithmetic sequence.

11   17   23   29

Find, in terms of n, an expression for the nth term of this arithmetic sequence.

4b
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2 marks

Is 121 a term of this arithmetic sequence?
You must explain your answer.

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5a
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2 marks

Here are the first four terms of an arithmetic sequence.

6   10   14   18

Write an expression, in terms of n, for the nth term of this sequence.

5b
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2 marks

The nth term of a different arithmetic sequence is 3 n space plus space 5

Is 108 a term of this sequence?

Show how you get your answer.

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6a
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2 marks

Here are the first five terms of an arithmetic sequence.

4   9   14   19   24

Find, in terms of n, an expression for the nth term of this sequence.

6b
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1 mark

Here are the first five terms of a different sequence.

2      2      0      -4      -10

An expression for the nth term of this sequence is 3 n space long dash space n squared

Write down, in terms of n, an expression for the nth term of a sequence whose first five terms are  

4      4      0      -8      -20

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7a
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1 mark

Here are the first six terms of a Fibonacci sequence.

            1   1   2   3         5    8

The rule to continue a Fibonacci sequence is,

         the next term in the sequence is the sum of the two previous terms.

Find the 9th term of this sequence.

7b
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2 marks

The first three terms of a different Fibonacci sequence are

a space space space space space space space b space space space space space space space a plus b

Show that the 6th term of this sequence is 3 a space plus space 5 b

7c
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3 marks

Given that the 3rd term is 7 and the 6th term is 29,

find the value of a and the value of b.

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8
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3 marks

Here are the first 5 terms of a quadratic sequence.

1   3   7   13   21

Find an expression, in terms of n, for the nth term of this quadratic sequence.

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9a
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2 marks

Find the nth term of each of these sequences.

16,    19,    22,   25,   28,   ...

9b
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2 marks

1,         3,      9,      27,      81,      ...

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10a
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1 mark

The first five terms of a sequence are 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, .....
Find

the 10th term,

10b
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1 mark

the nth term.

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11
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3 marks

Here are the first six terms of a quadratic sequence.

-1   5   15   29   47   69

Find an expression, in terms of n, for the nth term of this sequence.

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12
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2 marks

Here are the first four terms of a sequence of fractions.

1 over 1 space space space space space space 2 over 3 space space space space space space 3 over 5 space space space space space space space 4 over 7

The numerators of the fractions form the sequence of whole numbers 1 space 2 space 3 space 4 space...
The denominators of the fractions form the sequence of odd numbers 1 space 3 space 5 space 7 space...

Write down an expression, in terms of n, for the n th term of this sequence of fractions.

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13a
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2 marks

Here are the first five terms of a number sequence S.

10 space space space space space space space 16 space space space space space space space space 22 space space space space space space space space 28 space space space space space space space space 34

Find an expression, in terms of n, for the n th term of this sequence.

13b
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2 marks

The n th term of a sequence T is given by n squared space minus space 3

There are numbers that are terms in both the sequence S and the sequence T.

Find one of these numbers.

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14a
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2 marks

Here are the first four terms of an arithmetic sequence.

6 space space space space space space space space 10 space space space space space space space space space 14 space space space space space space space space space 18

Find an expression, in terms of n, for the n th term of this sequence.

14b
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1 mark

Write down an expression, in terms of n, for the left parenthesis n space plus space 1 right parenthesis th term of this sequence.

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15a
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2 marks

Here are the first five terms of a number sequence.

7    11    15    19    23

Find an expression, in terms of n , for the nth term of this sequence.

15b
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2 marks

The nth term of a different number sequence is given by 80 space – space 2 n

Write down the first 3 terms of this sequence.

15c
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1 mark

Yuen says there are no numbers that are in both of the sequences.

Yuen is correct.

Explain why.

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16a
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3 marks

A sunflower grows at a rate of 4 cm each day.

How many days does it take to grow from a height of 80 cm to more than 1.06 m?

16b
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1 mark

If the sunflower grows at a faster rate, how would this affect your answer to part (bold a)?

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17
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2 marks

Here are the first four terms of a sequence.

1 half 4 over 3 9 over 4 16 over 5


Find the nth term of this sequence.

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1a
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1 mark

The nth term of a sequence is a n squared space plus space b n.

Write down an expression, in terms of a and b, for the 3rd term.

1b
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4 marks

The 3rd term of this sequence is 21 and the 6th term is 96.

Find the value of a and the value of b
You must show all your working.

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2a
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2 marks

Here are the first five terms of an arithmetic sequence.

2      5      8      11      14

Write down an expression, in terms of n, for the nth term of this sequence.

2b
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2 marks

Is 299 a term of this sequence?

You must give a reason for your answer.

2c
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1 mark

Write down an expression, in terms of n, for the space left parenthesis n space plus space 1 right parenthesisth term of this sequence.

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3
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3 marks

Here are the first five terms of a sequence.

4   11   22   37   56

Find an expression, in terms of n, for the nth term of this sequence.

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4a
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4 marks

The nth term of a sequence is given by a n squared space plus space b n where a and b are integers.

The 2nd term of the sequence is —2
The 4th term of the sequence is 12

Find the 6th term of the sequence.

4b
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2 marks

Here are the first five terms of a different quadratic sequence.

0   2   6   12   20

Find an expression, in terms of n, for the nth term of this sequence.

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5a
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1 mark

Find the nth term of each sequence.

4,   8,   12,   16,   20,   .........

5b
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2 marks

11,   20,   35,   56,   83,   ..........

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6a
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3 marks

straight S is a geometric sequence.

Given that open parentheses square root of x minus 1 close parentheses, 1 and open parentheses square root of x plus 1 close parentheses  are the first three terms of straight S, find the value of x.
You must show all your working.

6b
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2 marks

Show that the 5th term of straight S is 7 space plus space 5 square root of 2

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7a
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2 marks

Louis and Robert are investigating the growth in the population of a type of bacteria.
They have two flasks A and B.

At the start of day 1, there are 1000 bacteria in flask A.
The population of bacteria grows exponentially at the rate of 50% per day.

Show that the population of bacteria in flask A at the start of each day forms a geometric progression.

7b
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2 marks

The population of bacteria in flask A at the start of the 10th day is k times the population of bacteria in flask A at the start of the 6th day.

Find the value of k.

7c
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1 mark

At the start of day 1 there are 1000 bacteria in flask B.
The population of bacteria in flask B grows exponentially at the rate of 30% per day.

Sketch a graph to compare the size of the population of bacteria in flask A and in flask B.

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8a
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2 marks

The table shows the first five terms of sequences A, B and C.

Sequence 1st term 2nd term 3rd term 4th term 5th term 6th term
A 3 4 5 6 7  
B 0 1 4 9 16  
C -3 -3 -1 3 9  

Complete the table for the 6th term of each sequence.

8b
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1 mark

Write down the nth term of sequence A.

8c
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4 marks
i)
Find the nth term of sequence B.
[1]

ii)
Find the value of n when the nth term of sequence B is 8281.
[3]
8d
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3 marks
i)
Find the nth term of sequence C in its simplest form.
[2]

ii)
Find the 8th term of sequence C.
[1]
8e
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3 marks

The nth term of another sequence D is open parentheses negative 1 half close parentheses to the power of n minus 1 end exponent.

Complete the table for the first four terms of sequence D.

Sequence 1st term 2nd term 3rd term 4th term
D        

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9a
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1 mark

In all the following sequences, after the first two terms, the rule is to add the previous two terms to find the next term.

Write down the next two terms in this sequence.

1      1      2      3      5      8      13      ........      ........
9b
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2 marks

Write down the first two terms of this sequence.

..........      ...........      3      11      14

9c
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8 marks
i)
Find the value of d and the value of e.

2      d      e      10 
[3]
 
ii)
Find the value of x, the value of y and the value of z.

-33     x      y       z      18
[5]

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10
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4 marks

The first two terms of a quadratic sequence are 10 and 17

Here is some information about the sequence.

q21-paper-1h-nov-2021-aqa-gcse-maths

Work out an expression for the nth term of the sequence.

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11
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3 marks

Theo starts with savings of £18
James starts with no savings.

Each week from now,

   Theo will save £4.50 and James will save £4

In how many weeks will Theo and James have savings in the ratio 15 : 8 ?

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12
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5 marks

A sequence is defined using this term-to-term rule,

u subscript n plus 1 end subscript space equals space k u subscript n space plus space r

where k and r are constants.

Given that u subscript 2 space equals space 41 , u subscript 3 space equals space 206 and u subscript 4 space equals space 1031, find the value of k and the value of r.

k space= ................

r = .................

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13a
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1 mark

Here is a sequence.

3 3 square root of 5 15 15 square root of 5

Work out the next term.

13b
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3 marks

Find the nth term.

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14
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3 marks

A sequence is defined by the rule u subscript n plus 1 end subscript equals 5 u subscript n minus 15

If u subscript 3 equals 6, calculate

i)
u subscript 5
u subscript 5=............................[3]

ii)
u subscript 2
u subscript 2=............................[3]

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