For example, if we have \( 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 \), we can write this as \(\displaystyle{ \sum_{i=1}^{5}{i} }\). Let's look at each part of this notation.
1. First, \(\sum\) just means to add. This is the upper-case Greek letter sigma.
2. The letter i is called the index. It is usually an integer. You will also see other variables used here like n or k.
3. The assignment \(i=1\) under the sigma gives you the starting value of the index and the index letter.
4. The number above the sigma tells you the ending value of the index. We don't need to repeat 'i=' here. The index is incremented by 1 until it reaches in the ending value. It includes the ending value. For infinite series, you will find \(\infty\) above the sigma.
5. In this sum, we just have i, so we iterate over the index and add up the results.

In general, we add up more interesting things than just integers. So you will sometimes see the notation \(\displaystyle{ \sum_{i=1}^{n}{a_i} }\) where \(a_i\) is some term involving the index i.

Before we go on, let's watch a video. This is a good overview of sigma notation. In this video, he starts by explaining the general notation and then he works several examples.