I'm not the original poster but still interested in solving this problem. Following your hint, the following is the expression I ended up with.phinds said:The next term is 362878. Doesn't seem very hard, I guess you just have to see the trick.
nmr said:I'm not the original poster but still interested in solving this problem. Following your hint, the following is the expression I ended up with.
A_n = A_(n-1) * (n+1) + 2(n+1)
How do I go about resolving A_(n-1) to a function/expression in terms of n?
phinds said:You have to take an assumed starting point, I think. I certainly did, but maybe someone with more math experience can give you an answer.
By the way, I obviously could have just posted the answer myself, but I thought I'd give the OP another shot at it, knowing that it isn't hard. I think you showed poor form in not doing the same.
The point of this forum is to help others figure things out, NOT to spoon feed them answers.
A sequence is a list of numbers that follow a specific pattern or rule. Each number in the sequence is called a term.
The general term of a sequence is an algebraic expression that allows you to find any term in the sequence by plugging in the term number. It is usually denoted as an, where n represents the term number.
To find the general term of a sequence, you need to examine the given sequence and look for a pattern. Once you have identified the pattern, you can use it to create an algebraic expression for the general term.
Some common types of sequences include arithmetic sequences, geometric sequences, and recursive sequences. In arithmetic sequences, each term is found by adding a constant value to the previous term. In geometric sequences, each term is found by multiplying the previous term by a constant value. In recursive sequences, each term is found by using the previous term in the sequence.
Finding the general term of a sequence allows us to predict and calculate any term in the sequence without needing to list out every term. It also helps us understand the pattern and behavior of the sequence, which can be useful in various applications, such as predicting future values or solving mathematical problems.