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Question 798537: write an equation for the nth term of the arithmetic sequence.
-11, -15, -19, -23
Thank you
Found 2 solutions by KMST, Finavon:
Answer by KMST(5328)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!  is the first term.
You add  to that to get the second term.
You add to each term to get the next term.
The common difference is 
The recurrent formula for the sequence is
which just says that to get the next term you add to the term before.
To get to the nth term, starting with ,
you would have added a total of  times,
so  is an equation/formula to calculate the nth term.
You can simplify it a bit:
NOTE that I keep talking about "add" and never said "subtract".
If you believe in negative numbers, you do not need to believe in the existence of an extra operation called "subtraction".
Life gets easier if you write  for short,
but think of it as adding the numbers  and .
I'm telling this, you because I think by now you are old enough to know.
Just humor your teacher as needed, but there is no such thing as subtraction. You are not subtracting a number; you are just adding the opposite number.
You do not need to write  , just know that subtraction is something they made you believe in when you were little.
While we are at it, there is no division either. You do not divide by a number, you just multiply times its reciprocal.
Answer by Finavon(81)  (Show Source):
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