In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of

objects in which repetitions are allowed. Like a set, it

contains members (also called elements, or terms). The number
of elements (possibly infinite) is called the length of the
sequence. Unlike a set, the same elements can appear multiple
times at different positions in a sequence, and order matters.
Formally, a sequence can be defined as a function whose domain
is either the set of the natural numbers (for infinite sequences) or
the set of the first n natural numbers (for a sequence of finite
length n). The position of an element in a sequence is
its rank or index; it is the natural number from which the element
is the image. It depends on the context or a specific convention,
if the first element has index 0 or 1. When a symbol has been
chosen for denoting a sequence, the nth element of the
sequence is denoted by this symbol with n as subscript; for
example, the nth element of the Fibonacci sequence is generally
denoted Fn.
For example, (M, A, R, Y) is a sequence of letters with the letter
'M' first and 'Y' last. This sequence differs from (A, R, M, Y). Also,
the sequence (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8), which contains the number 1 at
two different positions, is a valid sequence. Sequences can
be finite, as in these examples, or infinite, such as the sequence
of all even positive integers (2, 4, 6, ...).
In computing and computer science, finite sequences are
sometimes called strings, words or lists, the different names
commonly corresponding to different ways to represent them
in computer memory; infinite sequences are called streams. The
empty sequence ( ) is included in most notions of sequence, but
may be excluded depending on the context.
Arithmetic (from the Greek ἀ ριθμός arithmos, "number"
and τική [τέχνη], tiké [téchne], "art") is a branch
of mathematics that consists of the study of numbers,
especially the properties of the traditional operationson
them—addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
Arithmetic is an elementary part of number theory, and number
theory is considered to be one of the top-level divisions of
modern mathematics, along with algebra, geometry,
and analysis. The terms arithmetic and higher arithmetic were
used until the beginning of the 20th century as synonyms
for number theory and are sometimes still used to refer to a
wider part of number theory.[1]
In mathematics, a series is, roughly speaking, a description of
the operation of adding infinitely many quantities, one after the
other, to a given starting quantity.[1] The study of series is a
major part of calculus and its generalization, mathematical
analysis. Series are used in most areas of mathematics, even for
studying finite structures (such as in combinatorics),
through generating functions. In addition to their ubiquity in
mathematics, infinite series are also widely used in other
quantitative disciplines such as physics, computer
science, statistics and finance.
For a long time, the idea that such a potentially
infinite summation could produce a finite result was
considered paradoxical. This paradox was resolved using the
concept of a limit during the 19th century. Zeno's
paradox of Achilles and the tortoise illustrates this
counterintuitive property of infinite sums: Achilles runs after a
tortoise, but when he reaches the position of the tortoise at the
beginning of the race, the tortoise has reached a second position;
when he reaches this second position, the tortoise is at a third
position, and so on. Zeno concluded that Achilles
could never reach the tortoise, and thus that movement does not
exist. Zeno divided the race into infinitely many sub-races, each
requiring a finite amount of time, so that the total time for
Achilles to catch the tortoise is given by a series. The resolution
of the paradox is that, although the series has an infinite number
of terms, it has a finite sum, which gives the time necessary for
Achilles to catch up with the tortoise.
In modern terminology, any (ordered) infinite
sequence of terms (that is, numbers, functions, or anything
that can be added) defines a series, which is the operation of
adding the one after the other. To emphasize that there are an
infinite number of terms, a series may be called an infinite series.
Such a series is represented (or denoted) by an expression like
or, using the summation sign,

The infinite sequence of additions implied by a series cannot be

effectively carried on (at least in a finite amount of time).
However, if the set to which the terms and their finite sums
belong has a notion of limit, it is sometimes possible to assign a
value to a series, called the sum of the series. This value is the
limit as n tends to infinity (if the limit exists) of the finite sums of
the n first terms of the series, which are called the nth partial
sums of the series. That is,

When this limit exists, one says that the series

is convergent or summable, or that the sequence is summable.
In this case, the limit is called the sum of the series. Otherwise,
the series is said to be divergent.
Generally, the terms of a series come from a ring, often
the field of the real numbers or the field of the complex
numbers. In this case, the set of all series is itself a ring (and even
an associative algebra), in which the addition consists of adding
the series term by term, and the multiplication is the Cauchy
product.
Arithmetic Series

An arithmetic series is the sum of a sequence , ,

2, ..., in which each term is computed from the
previous one by adding (or subtracting) a constant .
Therefore, for ,

(1)

The sum of the sequence of the first terms is then

given by

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

Using the sum identity

(7)

then gives

(8)

Note, however, that

 (9)

so

(10)

or times the arithmetic mean of the first and last

terms! This is the trick Gauss used as a schoolboy to
solve the problem of summing the integers from 1 to
100 given as busy-work by his teacher. While his
classmates toiled away doing the addition longhand,
Gauss wrote a single number, the correct answer

(11)

on his slate (Burton 1989, pp. 80-81; Hoffman 1998,

p. 207). When the answers were examined, Gauss's
proved to be the only correct one.

SEE ALSO:Arithmetic Progression, Common

Difference, Geometric Series, Harmonic Series, Prime
Arithmetic ProgressionREFERENCES:

Abramowitz, M. and Stegun, I. A. (Eds.). Handbook of

Mathematical Functions with Formulas, Graphs, and
Mathematical Tables, 9th printing. New York: Dover,
p. 10, 1972.
Beyer, W. H. (Ed.). CRC Standard Mathematical Tables,
28th ed. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, p. 8, 1987.
Burton, D. M. Elementary Number Theory, 4th
ed. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 1989.
Courant, R. and Robbins, H. "The Arithmetical
Progression." §1.2.2 in What Is Mathematics?: An
Elementary Approach to Ideas and Methods, 2nd
ed. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, pp. 12-13,
1996.
Hoffman, P. The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: The
Story of Paul Erdős and the Search for Mathematical
Truth. New York: Hyperion, 1998.
Pappas, T. The Joy of Mathematics. San Carlos, CA:
Wide World Publ./Tetra, p. 164, 1989.

Referenced on Wolfram|Alpha: Arithmetic SeriesCITE

THIS AS:

Weisstein, Eric W. "Arithmetic Series."

From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web
Resource. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/ArithmeticSe
ries.html