Farmer Boyd has a plot of tomato plants. There are 140 tomato plants in the first row, 126 tomato plants in the second row, 112 tomato plants in the third row, and 98 tomato plants in the fourth row. What kind of sequence is this?

Answer 1

To determine the type of sequence represented by the number of tomato plants in Farmer Boyd's rows, we can look at the number of plants in each row:

• First row: 140
• Second row: 126
• Third row: 112
• Fourth row: 98

Next, we will check the differences between consecutive rows:

• Between the first and second rows: \(140 - 126 = 14\)
• Between the second and third rows: \(126 - 112 = 14\)
• Between the third and fourth rows: \(112 - 98 = 14\)

Since the difference between each pair of consecutive rows is the same (14), this indicates that the sequence is an arithmetic sequence. In an arithmetic sequence, the difference between successive terms is constant. In this case, the common difference is \(-14\), as the number of plants decreases by 14 in each subsequent row.