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Worked Examples · Example 6

Q.In a G.P., the 3rd term is 24 and the 6th term is 192. Find the 10th term.

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✓ Free question

In a geometric progression, each term is the previous term multiplied by a constant ratio. Using the 3rd and 6th terms to find the common ratio, then extending the pattern forward gives the 10th term as 3072.

A geometric progression is built on repeated multiplication. If you know any two terms and their positions, you can unlock the entire sequence because the ratio between terms stays constant. The key insight here is that the 6th term is exactly three "ratio steps" away from the 3rd term.

Let's denote the first term as aa and the common ratio as rr. The general term of a G.P. is Tn=arn−1T_n = ar^{n-1}.

  1. Write the given terms using the G.P. formula.

    The 3rd term: T3=ar2=24T_3 = ar^2 = 24

    The 6th term: T6=ar5=192T_6 = ar^5 = 192

  2. Find the common ratio by dividing the two equations.

    When we divide T6T_6 by T3T_3, the first term aa cancels out:

T6T3=ar5ar2=r3=19224=8\frac{T_6}{T_3} = \frac{ar^5}{ar^2} = r^3 = \frac{192}{24} = 8

Therefore, r3=8r^3 = 8, which gives us r=2r = 2.

Tip

Dividing two terms of a G.P. eliminates the first term and leaves only powers of the ratio. The exponent difference tells you how many ratio steps separate the terms.

  1. Find the first term using the common ratio.

    Substitute r=2r = 2 back into the equation for T3T_3:

ar2=24ar^2 = 24

a(2)2=24a(2)^2 = 24

4a=244a = 24

a=6a = 6

  1. Calculate the 10th term.

    Now that we have both a=6a = 6 and r=2r = 2, we can find any term in the sequence:

T10=ar9=6×29T_{10} = ar^9 = 6 \times 2^9

Since 29=5122^9 = 512:

T10=6×512=3072T_{10} = 6 \times 512 = 3072

Watch out

A common mistake is to use Tn=arnT_n = ar^n instead of Tn=arn−1T_n = ar^{n-1}. The first term corresponds to n=1n=1, so it's ar0=aar^0 = a, not ar1ar^1.

✓Final answer

The 10th term is 3072\boxed{3072}.

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