document.write( "<A HREF=/cgi-bin/jump-to-question.mpl?question=1131527>Question 1131527</A>: <I><SPAN STYLE=\"word-break: break-all;\"> The first term of an arithmetic sequence is -3 and the fifteenth term is 53. What is the common difference of the sequence?\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "14/13<BR>\n" );
document.write( "25/7<BR>\n" );
document.write( "4 </SPAN>\n" );
document.write( "</I><HR><TABLE width=100%><TR><TD><B><A HREF=http://www.algebra.com/>Algebra.Com's</A> Answer #748243 by </B><A HREF=/tutors/aboutme.mpl?userid=greenestamps><B>greenestamps(13200)</B></A><img src=\"/images/stars/stars-13.gif\" alt=\"\" >&nbsp;<A HREF=/tutors/aboutme.mpl?userid=greenestamps><IMG SRC=http://www.algebra.com/images/aboutme-small.gif BORDER=0 alt=\"About Me\" VALIGN=MIDDLE></A>&nbsp;<IMG SRC=http://www.algebra.com/cgi-bin/show-face.mpl?user=greenestamps><BR>You can <A HREF=\"/cgi-bin/embed-solution.mpl?show=1&solution=748243\">put this solution on YOUR website!</A><BR><SPAN STYLE=\"word-break: break-all;\"> <br><BR>\n" );
document.write( "Being able to use the formal algebraic methods to solve problems like this is important; you might need them for more difficult problems.  But for a simple problem like this one, you can do the same calculations without the formal formulas.<br><BR>\n" );
document.write( "The 15th term is 14 terms after the 1st term (15-1 = 14).<BR>\n" );
document.write( "The difference between the 15th term and the first term is 56 (53-(-3) = 56).<BR>\n" );
document.write( "So the common difference is 56/14 = 4. </SPAN>\n" );
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