This tutorial will guide you through the basics of summation in mathematics. Summation is the addition of a sequence of numbers. It's a fundamental concept in many areas of mathematics, including calculus and statistics.
Basic Summation
The basic summation formula is:
$$ \sum_{i=1}^{n} a_i = a_1 + a_2 + a_3 + \cdots + a_n $$
Here, ( a_i ) represents each term in the sequence, and ( n ) is the number of terms.
Example
Let's sum the first 5 natural numbers:
$$ \sum_{i=1}^{5} i = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 = 15 $$
Summation Notation
Summation notation is a concise way to represent the summation of a sequence. It's often used in more complex formulas and equations.
Notation
The summation notation for the example above is:
$$ \sum_{i=1}^{5} i = 15 $$
This notation means "sum the values of ( i ) from 1 to 5."
Useful Links
For more information on summation, you can read our detailed Summation Guide.
Practice
To practice your summation skills, try solving the following problem:
Sum the first 10 even numbers.