Denote the smaller of these two numbers by a1 and the larger by b1. Similarly, find the first two numbers of the given sequence that are in (a1, b1). Denote the smaller by a2 and the larger by b2. Continuing this procedure generates a sequence of intervals (a1, b1), (a2, b2), (a3, b3), ... such that each interval in the sequence contains all succeeding intervals — that is, it generates a sequence of nested intervals. This implies that the sequence a1, a2, a3, ... is increasing and the sequence b1, b2, b3, ... is decreasing.[10]