6. Recursively Defined Sequences
Sign In
Can you find the common ratio and the first term just by looking at the explicit formula?
a_n = -2(9)^(n-1)
In these formulas, r is the common ratio and a_1 is the first term. Looking at the given recursive formula, we can identify the common ratio r and the value of the first term a_1. a_1= -2; a_n= 9a_(n-1) We can see that 9 is a common ratio and -2 is the first term. Now we have enough information to form an explicit formula for this sequence. a_n=a_1 * r^(n-1) ⇔ a_n = -2( 9)^(n-1)