William W. answered • 11/15/19
Math and science made easy - learn from a retired engineer
For n = 1, a1 would equal 7 - 6(1) = 7 - 6 = 1
For n = 2, a2 would equal 7 - 6(2) = 7 - 12 = -5
For n = 3, a3 would equal 7 - 6(3) = 7 - 18 = -11
Summarizing, the sequence is 1, -5, -11, . . .
So to go from one term to the next, you need to subtract 6. So we could say:
a1 = 1 and a2 = a1 - 6 or, more generally, we could say:
an+1 = an - 6 where a1 = 1
This is called the recursive equation because it requires you to have to keep repeating the equation to get each term and you can't jump ahead, you MUST calculate a2 and then use that to calculate a3, which is then used to calculate a4, etc.
William W.
a1 stands for the first term. You get the first term when you plug "1" into the explicit equation they gave you in place of "n". The "n" stands for any number term you might want. If you are looking for the first term, then n = 1 and the equation looks like this: a1 = 7 - 6(1) instead of an = 7 - 6(n).11/15/19
William W.
And 7 - 6(1) = 111/15/19
Seth S.
why does the a1 =111/15/19