Pearson Algebra 2 Common Core, 2011
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Pearson Algebra 2 Common Core, 2011 View details
2. Arithmetic Sequences
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Exercise 40 Page 576

Practice makes perfect
a We will use our graphing calculator to generate an arithmetic sequence with a common difference of To do so, we will begin by typing the first term on the home screen. In this case, since we are not given the first term we can choose any number. Let the first term of the sequence be

Next, we type and the expression appears.

Then, if we press once, we can find the second term of the sequence.

Let's first find the term. To do so we will press five times in total.

Therefore, the term is Proceeding in the same way, to find the term we will press seven times in total. To find the term we will press nineteen times in total. Let's do it!

Thus, the term is and the term is

b In this part we will investigate how our answer to Part A relates to the explicit formula.
In this formula, is the term, is the first term, and is the common difference. In the formula we add to the first term times to obtain the term. To perform the same operation on a calculator, we press times to obtain the term.