Question

Explain the rule for finding the next term in the sequence.
Find the next three terms in the sequence

a) 5,3,1,-1

(Show with working)

Use formula- a1+(n-1)d

Answer 1

The rule for finding the next term in the sequence is that we add or subtract a constant value, called the common difference, to get to the next term.

a) In this sequence, we are subtracting 2 from each term to get to the next term. Therefore, the common difference (d) is -2.

To find the next three terms, we can use the formula a1 + (n-1)d, where a1 is the first term and n is the term we want to find.

So, the next term (a4) would be: 1 + (4-1)(-2) = 1 - 6 = -5

The term after that (a5) would be: -5 - 2 = -7

And the term after that (a6) would be: -7 - 2 = -9

Therefore, the next three terms in the sequence are -5, -7, -9.