Here are the first four terms of a sequence - OCR - GCSE Maths - Question 26 - 2018 - Paper 1

Question 26

Here are the first four terms of a sequence.
28 23 18 13
Find the nth term of the sequence.
Worked Solution & Example Answer:Here are the first four terms of a sequence - OCR - GCSE Maths - Question 26 - 2018 - Paper 1
Identify the Pattern

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The given sequence is 28, 23, 18, 13. We can observe that each term is decreasing by 5, then decreasing by 5 for each subsequent term.
- From 28 to 23, the decrease is 5.
- From 23 to 18, the decrease is 5.
- From 18 to 13, the decrease is 5.
Formulate the nth Term

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Given that the sequence decreases by 5 each time, we can express the nth term of the sequence using the formula:
an=28−5(n−1)
Here, 28 is the first term and 5 is the common difference. Simplifying this gives:
an=28−5n+5=33−5n
Thus, the nth term can be expressed as an=33−5n.
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