The elements of an arithmetico-geometric sequence ( A n G n ) n ≥ 1 {\displaystyle (A_{n}G_{n})_{n\geq 1}} are the products of the elements of an arithmetic progression ( A n ) n ≥ 1 {\displaystyle (A_{n})_{n\geq 1}} (in blue) with initial value a {\displaystyle a} and common difference d {\displaystyle d} , A n = a + ( n − 1 ) d , {\displaystyle A_{n}=a+(n-1)d,} with the corresponding elements of a geometric progression ( G n ) n ≥ 1 {\displaystyle (G_{n})_{n\geq 1}} (in green) with initial value b {\displaystyle b} and common ratio r {\displaystyle r} , G n = b r n − 1 , {\displaystyle G_{n}=br^{n-1},} so that4
These four parameters are somewhat redundant and can be reduced to three: a b , {\displaystyle ab,} b d , {\displaystyle bd,} and r . {\displaystyle r.}
The sequence
is the arithmetico-geometric sequence with parameters d = b = 1 {\displaystyle d=b=1} , a = 0 {\displaystyle a=0} , and r = 1 2 {\displaystyle r={\tfrac {1}{2}}} .
The sum of the first n terms of an arithmetico-geometric series has the form
where A i {\textstyle A_{i}} and G i {\textstyle G_{i}} are the ith elements of the arithmetic and the geometric sequence, respectively.
This partial sum has the closed-form expression
Multiplying5
by r gives
Subtracting rSn from Sn, dividing both sides by b {\displaystyle b} , and using the technique of telescoping series (second equality) and the formula for the sum of a finite geometric series (fifth equality) gives
as claimed.
If −1 < r < 1, then the sum S of the arithmetico-geometric series, that is to say, the limit of the partial sums of the elements of the sequence, is given by6
If r is outside of the above range, b is not zero, and a and d are not both zero, the limit does not exist and the series is divergent.
The sum
is the sum of an arithmetico-geometric series defined by d = b = 1 {\displaystyle d=b=1} , a = 0 {\displaystyle a=0} , and r = 1 2 {\displaystyle r={\tfrac {1}{2}}} , and it converges to S = 2 {\displaystyle S=2} . This sequence corresponds to the expected number of coin tosses required to obtain "tails". The probability T k {\displaystyle T_{k}} of obtaining tails for the first time at the kth toss is as follows:
Therefore, the expected number of tosses to reach the first "tails" is given by
Similarly, the sum
is the sum of an arithmetico-geometric series defined by d = 1 {\displaystyle d=1} , a = 0 {\displaystyle a=0} , b = 1 / 6 5 / 6 = 1 5 {\displaystyle b={\tfrac {1/6}{5/6}}={\tfrac {1}{5}}} , and r = 5 6 {\displaystyle r={\tfrac {5}{6}}} , and it converges to 6. This sequence corresponds to the expected number of six-sided dice rolls required to obtain a specific value on a die roll, for instance "5". In general, these series with d = 1 {\displaystyle d=1} , a = 0 {\displaystyle a=0} , b = p 1 − p {\displaystyle b={\tfrac {p}{1-p}}} , and r = 1 − p {\displaystyle r=1-p} give the expectations of "the number of trials until first success" in Bernoulli processes with "success probability" p {\displaystyle p} . The probabilities of each outcome follow a geometric distribution and provide the geometric sequence factors in the terms of the series, while the number of trials per outcome provides the arithmetic sequence factors in the terms.
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