To determine the rule for generating the next term in the sequence 23, 19.5, 16, 12.5, we first identify how the sequence changes from one term to the next.
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From 23 to 19.5:
\( 19.5 - 23 = -3.5 \) -
From 19.5 to 16:
\( 16 - 19.5 = -3.5 \) -
From 16 to 12.5:
\( 12.5 - 16 = -3.5 \)
The same change of -3.5 occurs for each transition. This indicates that we are adding a common difference of -3.5 to each term to get the next term.
So the correct statement is:
Add the common difference of −3.5.