Question

The first five terms of an arithmetic sequence are 8, 13/2, 5, 7/2, and 2. Which function, f(x), could be used to describe the xth term of the sequence?

Answer 1

-1.5x+9.5

Explanation:

-1.5(1)+9.5=8

-1.5(2)+9.5=6.5

-1.5(3)+9.5=5

and so on....

Answer 2

f(x) = 8 - 1.5x

Explanation:

Here, we want to write a function that can be used to describe the x th term of the sequence

Mathematically, this can be calculated by looking at the numbers in the sequence

The difference between each successive term

is -1.5 ( 6.5-8, 3.5 -5)

So the formula for then x th term will be;

f(x) = 8 - 1.5x

where x refers to the number of the term , for example the 4th term