OCR MEI C2 — Question 1 3 marks

Exam BoardOCR MEI
ModuleC2 (Core Mathematics 2)
Marks3
PaperDownload PDF ↗
Mark schemeDownload PDF ↗
TopicArithmetic Sequences and Series
TypeRecurrence relation: evaluate sum
DifficultyModerate -0.8 This is a straightforward recurrence relation question requiring only direct calculation of four terms and their sum. No conceptual insight needed—just substitute values sequentially (u₁=2, u₂=10/4=2.5, u₃=10/6.25=1.6, u₄=10/2.56≈3.906) and add them up. Simpler than average A-level questions which typically require more problem-solving or multiple techniques.
Spec1.04e Sequences: nth term and recurrence relations1.04g Sigma notation: for sums of series

1 A sequence is defined by \(u _ { 1 } = 2\) and \(u _ { k + 1 } = \frac { 10 } { u _ { k } ^ { 2 } }\).
Calculate \(\sum _ { k = 1 } ^ { 4 } u _ { k }\).

Question 1
AnswerMarks
\(u_1 = 10\), \(u_2 = \frac{10}{2.5^2}\), \(u_3 = \frac{10}{1.6^2}\)M1*
\(2 + u_2 + u_3 + u_4\) (must be the sum of 4 terms only)M1dep*
\(10.00625\) or \(\frac{1601}{160}\) or \(101\frac{1}{80}\) cao iswA1
Guidance:
NB \(2.5, 1.6, 3.90625\) or \(\frac{10}{4}, \frac{8}{5}, \frac{125}{32}\) may be implied by e.g. sight of \(3.9\) and answer of \(10.0\)
NB \(2.5, 1.1, 0.625\) scores M0M0
B3 if unsupported
# Question 1

$u_1 = 10$, $u_2 = \frac{10}{2.5^2}$, $u_3 = \frac{10}{1.6^2}$ | M1*

$2 + u_2 + u_3 + u_4$ (must be the sum of 4 terms only) | M1dep*

$10.00625$ or $\frac{1601}{160}$ or $101\frac{1}{80}$ cao isw | A1

**Guidance:**

NB $2.5, 1.6, 3.90625$ or $\frac{10}{4}, \frac{8}{5}, \frac{125}{32}$ may be implied by e.g. sight of $3.9$ and answer of $10.0$

NB $2.5, 1.1, 0.625$ scores M0M0

B3 if unsupported
1 A sequence is defined by $u _ { 1 } = 2$ and $u _ { k + 1 } = \frac { 10 } { u _ { k } ^ { 2 } }$.\\
Calculate $\sum _ { k = 1 } ^ { 4 } u _ { k }$.

\hfill \mbox{\textit{OCR MEI C2  Q1 [3]}}