Is it possible to have a geometric series without a common ratio?

Question

amistre64 · Answer

no, since by definition a geometric series is ....

anonymous · Answer

I'm doing an activity that requires me to find the sum of a series that was formed by values collected while doing the activity. I had to drop balls from a certain height and measure the height of each bounce, which made up the values in the series. The values have no common ratio and this assignment is supposed to be all about geometric series. I don't understand why this would be an assignment if they can't guarantee our values will form a geometric series. Maybe you could look at the values and see if I'm doing something wrong?

amistre64 · Answer

real world experiments dont always conform to pretty little maths :)

tkhunny · Answer

It is a REAL experiment.  You should not expect it to give EXACTLY the theoretical result.  Frankly, you should be shocked if it does.

anonymous · Answer

This is true! Which is why I'm baffled that I'm required to answer with the sum of the series if they're not series at all.

amistre64 · Answer

the sum of the series is a different beast altogehter

tkhunny · Answer

You're missing the point.  Find a geometric series that closely resembles your empirical data.  Sum the series, not the data.

anonymous · Answer

Could you help me find a series that does loosely fit?

tkhunny · Answer

Not without the data.

amistre64 · Answer

how did you measure the height of each bounce?

amistre64 · Answer

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