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Find a general term a, for the sequence whose first four terms are given.
6, 14, 22, 30,...

1 Answer

3 votes

Answer:

an = 6 +8(n -1)

Explanation:

Usually, you're asked for a general term when you're studying arithmetic and/or geometric sequences. One way to tell which kind of sequence you have is to look at the differences between adjacent terms. If they are all the same, the sequence is arithmetic, and the general term is ...

an = a1 +d(n -1)

where a1 is the first term, and d is the common difference.

Here, the differences are ...

14 -6 = 8

22 -14 = 8

30 -22 = 8

These are all the same, hence a "common" difference. The first term is 6, so the general term is ...

an = 6 +8(n -1)

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