While at work, Brian is putting papers into folders. He put 48 papers in the first folder, 42 papers in the second folder, 36 papers in the third folder, and 30 papers in the fourth folder. What kind of sequence is this?

Answer 1

To analyze the sequence of the number of papers Brian put into the folders, let's look at the numbers: 48, 42, 36, and 30.

We can find the differences between consecutive terms:

• 42 - 48 = -6
• 36 - 42 = -6
• 30 - 36 = -6

The difference between each pair of consecutive terms is constant (-6). This indicates that the sequence is an arithmetic sequence with a common difference of -6. In summary, the sequence is arithmetic because it decreases by a constant amount (6 papers) for each subsequent folder.