REVIEW

Give the first five terms of the sequence given the rule or
equation of the nth term.
1) An = 3n + 7
Answer : 10, 13, 16, 19, 22
2)An = 10 - 2n2
Answer : 8, 2, -8, -22, -40
3)An = 4 ( n – 6)
Answer: -20, -16, -12, -8, -4
4)An = 2n + 1
Answer: 4, 8, 16, 32, 64
 LESSON # 2

FINDING THE GENERAL RULE OR

NTH TERM OF A SEQUENCE
 EXAMPLES
1)Find the rule for the nth term of the
sequence 5, 10, 15, 20 …..
Answer:An = 5n
2)Find the rule for the nth term of the
sequence -3, 9, -27, 81, ……..
Answer :An = ( - 3)n
 EXAMPLE 3
Find the rule for the nth term of the sequence 5, 9, 13, 17, ……
Solution
If a sequence is formed by adding or subtracting a fixed number ,
then the equation of the sequence is linear.
Use the formula An = dn + c where An is any term, n is the term
number and c is a constant
* c=
In the given, d = 4
c=5–4=1
Hence An = 4n + 1
 EXAMPLE 4

Find the general term for the sequence

14 , 6, -2, -10, … .

C = 14 – (-8)
C = 14 + 8
C = 22
 Example 5
Find the general term for the sequence, ,
….
Quadratic Sequence

QUADRATIC SEQUENCE
A quadratic sequence is a sequence of numbers in
which the second differences between each
consecutive term is constant, called a common second
difference.
The nth term for the quadratic sequence is in the form :
If a sequence has no equal first differences but has equal
second differences , then we have a quadratic sequence.
The general rule is of the form An = an2 + bn + c
Step 1:
Find a, using the equation 2a = d where d is the common
difference
Step 2:
Find b using 3a+b = 1st term of the first differences
Step 3:
Find c using a +b +c = 1st term of the given sequence
 Example 6

Find the general term for the sequence

-1, 3, 9, 17, … .
1st differences 4 6 8
2nd differences 2 2
2a = d 3a + b = 4 a + b + c = -1
2a = 2 1 +1 + c = -1
3(1) +b = 4 C = -1 – 2
a=1 b = 4 -3 C = -3
b=1
𝒂 𝒏=𝒏 𝟐 +𝒏 − 𝟑
 Example 7

Find the general term for the sequence

-1, 5, 15, 29, … .
1st differences 6 10 14
2nd differences 4 4 a + b + c = -1
2a = 4 2 + 0 + c = -1
3a + b = 6
C = -1 – 2
a=2 3(2) + b = 6 C = -3
6+b=6
𝟐
b = 6-6 𝑨𝒏 =𝟐 𝒏 −𝟑
b=0
 PRACTICE EXERCISES
For each sequence, write the rule or formula for
the nth term.
1) 4 , 7, 10, 13 , …
2) 10 , 6, 2, -2, -6, …
3)
4) 6, 13, 26, 45, …