Question 495345: WHAT IS THE 200TH NUMBER IN THIS SEQUENCE
USE THIS SEQUENCE: 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16
Answer by Edwin McCravy(20060) (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
1,4,7,10,13,16
To get from the first term 1 to the 2nd term 4 we add 3.
To get from the 2nd term 4 to the 3rd term 7 we add 3. Therefore
To get from the 1st term 1 to the 3rd term 7 we must add 3 2 times.
To get from the 3rd term 7 to the 4th term 10 we add 3. Therefore
To get from the 1st term 1 to the 4th term 10 we must add 3 3 times.
To get from the 4th term 10 to the 5th term 13 we add 3. Therefore
To get from the 1st term 1 to the 5th term 13 we must add 3 4 times.
To get from the 5th term 13 to the 6th term 16 we add 3. Therefore
To get from the 1st term 1 to the 6th term 16 we must add 3 5 times.
We assume that this pattern continues forever:
To get from the (n-1)th term an-1 to the nth term an we add 3. Therefore
To get from the 1st term 1 to the nth term an we must add 3 n-1 times.
and we end up with
To get from the 199th term a199 to the 200th term a200 we add 3. Therefore
To get from the 1st term 1 to the 200th term a200 we must add 3 199 times.
Therefore
a200 = 1 + 199×3 = 1 + 597 = 598
Actually the formula for the nth term when there is a common
difference d, such as the 3 that is added each time, is
an = a1 + (n-1)d
where a1 is the first term and d is the common difference
and n is the number of terms.
This is called an "arithmetic sequence".
So we could have just substituted a1 = 1, d = 3 and n = 200
into
an = a1 + (n-1)d
a200 = 1 + (200-1)3
a200 = 1 + (199)3
a200 = 1 + 597
a200 = 598
Edwin
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