SOLUTION: what is the formula of sequence 1,2,1,2,1,2...

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Question 1053828: what is the formula of sequence 1,2,1,2,1,2...
Answer by Edwin McCravy(20056) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!

Observe that from halfway between 1 and 2, which is 1%261%2F2, 
we go down from 1%261%2F2 by 1%2F2 to 1, then
we go up from 1%261%2F2 by 1%2F2 to 2, then
we go down from 1%261%2F2 by 1%2F2 to 1, then
we go up from 1%261%2F2 by 1%2F2 to 2, then
etc., etc., etc., ...

We know that the formula %28-1%29%5En goes down and up
-1,1,-1,1,-1,1,...

So we can use that as a multiplier of 1%2F2 to go down
and up from 1%261%2F2,

So to get the 1st term we take 1%261%2F2 and add
%28-1%29%5E1, which is -1, times 1%2F2, to go down
to 1.

Then to get the 2nd term we take 1%261%2F2 and add
%28-1%29%5E2, which is +1, times 1%2F2, to go up
to 2.

Then to get the 3rd term we take 1%261%2F2 and add
%28-1%29%5E3, which is -1, times 1%2F2, to go down
to 1.

Then to get the 4th term we take 1%261%2F2 and add
%28-1%29%5E4, which is +1, times 1%2F2, to go up
to 2.

etc., etc., etc.,...

So when n is odd, we go down by 1%2F2 to 1 from 1%261%2F2
and when n is even, we go up by 1%2F2 to 2 from 1%261%2F2. 

So to get the nth term we take 1%261%2F2 and add
%28-1%29%5En times 1%2F2,

So the formula for the nth term, which we call a%5Bn%5D is



That will do for the formula, but maybe we want to write
it a little differently. We change 1%261%2F2 to an improper
fraction 3%2F2



Then we can factor out 1%2F2



Then we can change 'multiplying by 1%2F2' to 
'dividing by 2' which is the same thing:

matrix%281%2C5%2Ca%5Bn%5D%2C%22%22%2C%22%22=%22%22%2C%22%22%2C%283%2B%28-1%29%5En%29%2F2+%29

Edwin