SOLUTION: really struggling with this ... have done the rest of homework but cant understand when its minus figures of a no. sequence. sequence is 10, 6,2,-2,-6. I have to find the nth

Question 215264: really struggling with this ... have done the rest of homework but cant understand when its minus figures of a no. sequence.
sequence is 10, 6,2,-2,-6. I have to find the nth term, the 12th term and 27th term. PLease help and possibly explain how its done. Thank you so much. Need it tonight. THank you
Found 2 solutions by drj, tutor_paul:
Answer by drj(1380) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Sequence is 10, 6,2,-2,-6. I have to find the nth term, the 12th term and 27th term.

Step 1. Look for a pattern. Difference between 10 and 6 is 4. The difference of 6 and 2 is also 4. Difference between 2 and -2 is also four, and the difference between -2 and -6 is four.

Step 2. So first term is 10 need to subtract 4 to get 6. 10 - 4(n-1) where n=2 for 6.

Step 3. See if the formula works for the rest of the sequence. 10-4(n-1)= 10-4n-1=11-4n (as we mention in Step 1, the difference is 4. Now we know the first term is 10 so when n is 1 we get 10 since 10-4(1-1)=10. When n is 2, we get 6 since 10-4(2-1)=6. When n is 3, we get 10-4*(3-1)=-2. For n=4, we get 10-4*(4-1)=-6. So the formula works.

Step 4. ANSWER: The equation for the sequence is 10-4(n-1) or 11-4n

Step 5. ANSWER. For n=12, then 11-4n=11-4*12=-37

Step 5. ANSWER: For n=27, then 11-4n=11-4*27=-97

I hope the above steps were helpful.

For free Step-By-Step Videos on Introduction to Algebra, please visit http://www.FreedomUniversity.TV/courses/IntroAlgebra or for Trigonometry visit http://www.FreedomUniversity.TV/courses/Trigonometry.

And good luck in your studies!

Respectfully,
Dr J

Answer by tutor_paul(519) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
If you look at the sequence, you will see that each number is 4 less than the previous number.
So the nth term has a value of: 10-(n-1)4.
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For 12th term:

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For 27th term;

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Good Luck,
tutor_paul@yahoo.com

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