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1st term in sequence is 6-4th term is -6, the 8th term is -22 write a function that can be used to find the nth term of the sequence

2 Answers

4 votes


a_(n) = 10 - 4n

this is an arithmetic sequence with n th term


a_(n) =
a_(1) + (n - 1 )d

where
a_(1) is the first term and d the common difference

given
a_(4) = - 6, then

6 + 3d = - 6 ( subtract 6 from both sides )

3d = - 12 ( divide both sides by 3 )

d = - 4 ← common difference hence


a_(n) = 6 - 4 (n - 1 ) = 6 - 4n + 4 = 10 - 4n


User Steve Westbrook
by
5.8k points
3 votes

Step-by-step explanation


The nth term of the sequence is given by



U_n=a+(n-1)d


Where


a


is the first term and




d



is the constant difference.


We were given that,



a=6


S we just need the common difference to write the nth term.


We can get that from another information given to us.


We were also given that the 4th term is 6. This gives the equation.



a+3d=-6



We substitute


a=6


to obtain





6+3d=-6


Or





2+d=-2


This implies,




d=-2-2



d=-4



We substitute these values into the general formula to obtain,




U_n=6+(n-1)*-4


This gives us,




U_n=6+-4n+4






U_n=10-4n



Hence the nth term of the sequence is,




10-4n

User Tebbe
by
5.2k points