Question

What is the explicit formula for the arithmetic sequence below?

Answer 1

Answer: a = 5n - 14

Step-by-step explanation: To write an explicit formula for an arithmetic sequence, we first need to identify the zero term of our sequence.

Since we know this is an arithmetic sequence, each time a number increases by 5 so our common difference is 5.

To find the zero term of the sequence, we will need to extend our arithmetic sequence so we will be subtracting 5 from -9 and we will get -14.

Now, we use the generic version for finding the nth term of an arithmetic sequence.

Explicit formula: a = 5n - 14