What is the term-to-term rule of the following sequence?
60, 50, 40, 30, ...
What is the term-to-term rule of the following sequence?
60, 50, 40, 30, ...
To solve this problem, we'll follow these steps:
Now, let's work through each step:
Step 1: Observe the difference between consecutive terms:
- The difference between the first and second terms (60 - 50) is 10.
- The difference between the second and third terms (50 - 40) is also 10.
- Similarly, the difference remains constant at 10 for the remaining terms (40 - 30 = 10).
Thus, the common difference is -10, as the terms are decreasing by 10 each time.
Step 2: Use the formula for an arithmetic sequence:
The nth term of an arithmetic sequence can be expressed as , where is the initial term and is the common difference.
Here, and . Plugging these into the formula, we have:
Simplifying the expression:
Thus, the nth term is .
Therefore, the term-to-term rule for this sequence is , which matches the correct answer choice .