Recurrence Relations (Edexcel A Level Maths: Pure)
Revision Note
Author
RogerExpertise
Maths
Recurrence Relations
What do I need to know about recurrence relations?
- A recurrence relation describes each term in a sequence as a function of the previous term – ie un+1 = f(un)
- Along with the first term of the sequence, this allows you to generate the sequence term by term
- Both arithmetic sequences and geometric sequences can be defined using recurrence relations
- Arithmetic can be defined by
- Geometric can be defined by
- However, you can also define sequences that are neither arithmetic nor geometric
Exam Tip
- For arithmetic or geometric sequences defined by recurrence relations, you can sum the terms using the arithmetic series and geometric series formulae.
- To sum up the terms of other sequences, you may have to think about the series and find a clever trick.
Worked example
You've read 0 of your 0 free revision notes
Get unlimited access
to absolutely everything:
- Downloadable PDFs
- Unlimited Revision Notes
- Topic Questions
- Past Papers
- Model Answers
- Videos (Maths and Science)
Did this page help you?