Final answer:
The nᵗʰ term of the sequence 16, 16.5, 17, 17.5, 18 can be found using the formula for the nᵗʰ term of an arithmetic sequence. The formula is an = 15.5 + 0.5n, where n is the term number.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the nᵗʰ term of the sequence 16, 16.5, 17, 17.5, 18, we can see this is an arithmetic sequence where each term increases by 0.5. The first term (a₁) of the sequence is 16 and the common difference (d) is 0.5.
The formula to find the nᵗʰ term of an arithmetic sequence is given by:
an = a₁ + (n - 1) * d
Substituting the given values into this formula, we get:
an = 16 + (n - 1) * 0.5
Simplifying this expression will give us the general form for the nᵗʰ term:
an = 16 + 0.5n - 0.5
Combining like terms, we have:
an = 15.5 + 0.5n
Therefore, the nᵗʰ term of the given sequence can be expressed as a function of n: 15.5 plus half of n.