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So a sequence is a set (list) of numbers, generally one that follows some rule.
1, 2, 3, ... etc. or
2, 4, 6, ...
Of course, sequences don't have to be numeric and some kinds of brain teaser problems will show a sequence of pictorials and invite the problem-solver to figure out the rule that generated that sequence and to compute the next object in the sequence.
I just looked up the word sequence on Etymology Online Dictionary. It derives as "hymn sung after the Hallelujah and before the Gospel," from O.Fr. sequence "answering verses" (13c.), from M.L. sequentia "a following, a succession," from L. sequentem (nom. sequens), prp. of sequi "to follow".
In math they also talk about series - which is the summation of the elements of an infinite sequence. Series comes from "1610s, "a number or set of things of one kind arranged in a line," from L. series "row, chain, series," from serere "to join, link, bind together, put," from PIE base *ser- "to line up, join" according to the same source.
So sequence is a succession and a series is a joining together. The distinction makes sense in light of their root words. Maybe now I won't keep forgetting which word means what.
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In the Roman Church the "Sequence" is sung on Easter. That's
about it. Long gone like so many things in that Church.
----please, draw me a sheep----
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the "Sequence" is sung on Easter. Never heard of that one.
a series is a joining together. Um, K? How about a television series as a mnemonic?
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Sequence: Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequence_(poetry) and the Easter Sequence: Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victimae_paschali_laudes
Last edited by LukeJavan8; 06/04/11 02:44 AM.
----please, draw me a sheep----
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the "Sequence" is sung on Easter. Never heard of that one.
a series is a joining together. Um, K? How about a television series as a mnemonic? Neither had I till I saw the etymology.
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Pooh-Bah
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Then we get a sequence of sports contests that build towards a World Series
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In a SEQUENCE, order matters.
like in DNA sequencing which determines what a gene is to become.
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Ok..had to come back to post this......I found when researching something completely different, but thats what it is like when an idea is lying dormant your head...it swims around and pops up anytime  A Fibonacci sequence. In their simplest form, a sequence of numbers 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 337, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, 4181, 6765, etc., in which each successive number is equal to the sum of the two preceding numbers. It works with the fractional version to 1/1, 1/2, 2/3, 3/5, 5/8, 8/13 . . . . Named after Leonardo Fibonacci (1175 - c.1250)(pr. FEE-bə-NAH-chee), an Italian mathematician, they have unusual characteristics with possible applications in botony, astronomy, and psychology, as well as in the arts. (I just copied that bit, I don't really know.)
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I had actually typed a bunch of stuff on Fibonacci sequence in my original msg, but deleted it before posting, because I thought no one would be interested. The ratio of successive Fibonacci #s approaches the Golden ratio (which I derive towards the end of the following page) http://reocities.com/athens/8994/ratio.txtThere's a number of interesting properties in Nature: Sunflower petals : http://www.popmath.org.uk/rpamaths/rpampages/sunflower.htmlhttp://www.dace.co.uk/proportion_phi.htmI recall vaguely from years ago that some computer scientists were looking at Fibonacci as a way to address certain memory allocation problems, but I don't know if anything came of it.
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Whew!
Shades of DaVinci Code here.
----please, draw me a sheep----
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