Question

MULTIPLE CHOICE 9th grade math: help me find the formula to the nth term:

Answer 1

`a_(n)` = - 5n - 2

Explanation:

There is a common difference between consecutive terms, that is

- 12 - (- 7) = - 17 - (- 12) = - 5

This indicates the sequence is arithmetic with n th term

`a_(n)` = a₁ + (n - 1)d

where a₁ is the first term and d the common difference

Here a₁ = - 7 and d = - 5, then

`a_(n)` = - 7 - 5(n - 1) = - 7 - 5n + 5 = - 5n - 2