Question 822545:  what is the 20th term of 16,49,104,181 ? 
 Answer by Edwin McCravy(20064)      (Show Source): 
You can  put this solution on YOUR website! 
16,49,104,181
I always first check the sequence of differences to see
if I can recognize a pattern:
2nd term - 1st term =   49-16 = 33 = 11×3
3rd term - 2nd term =  104-49 = 55 = 11×5 
4th term - 3rd term = 181-104 = 77 = 11×7
So we can now see the pattern.
 1.    Start with 16, then
 2.    16 + 11×3  =   49
and the multiple of 11, which is 3, is 1 less than twice the term
number, which is 2. 
 3.    49 + 11×5  =  104 =
16 + 11×3 + 11×5
and the multiple of 11, which is 5, is 1 less than twice the term
number, which is 3.
 4.   104 + 11×7  =  181 =
16 + 11×3 + 11×5 + 11×7
and the multiple of 11, which is 7, is 1 less than twice the term
number, which is 4
Therefore to find the 20th term, we start with 16 and add
19 terms.  So the 20th term is
16+  =
Factor out 11 from the sun:
16+  =
Break up the sum into two sums:
16+  =
Factor out 2 from the first sum:
16+  =
The sum   is the sum of an arithmetic sequence
with a1 = 2 and a19 = 20, and d=1
Sn =  (a1 + an)
S19 =  (2 + 20) =  (22) = 209
And   is the sum of 19 ones, which is 19.
Substituting in:
16+  =
We have
16+11·(2·209-19) =
4405.
Edwin  
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