what are the next two terms in the pattern 7, 2, 5, -3, 8, -11

Question

what are the next two terms in the pattern 7, 2, 5, -3, 8, -11?

Answer 1

The difference between 7 and 2 is - 5

The difference between 2 and 5 is 3

The difference between 5 and -3 is -8

The difference between -3 and 8 is 11

The difference between 8 and -11 is -19.

The pattern is that the numbers are going +,-,+,- the previous number, but also the absolute value of the differences are being added: 5+3 = 8, 8+3 = 11, 11+8 = 19.

So the next number must be 11+19 = 30 away from the previous number and it must be added onto -11, so the 7th number would be 19. The next number after that would be 19+30 away from the 7th term (19), which would be 49, but this must be subtracted. So 19-49 would be -30.