Discover a wealth of knowledge at Westonci.ca, where experts provide answers to your most pressing questions. Ask your questions and receive accurate answers from professionals with extensive experience in various fields on our platform. Explore comprehensive solutions to your questions from a wide range of professionals on our user-friendly platform.

Here is a linear sequence:
3, 8, 13, ...

Is 127 in the sequence? Show your work.

Sagot :

To determine if 127 is in the given sequence, we need to analyze the pattern of the sequence. The given sequence is:
[tex]\[ 3, 8, 13, \ldots \][/tex]

We can observe that the sequence is arithmetic because the difference between consecutive terms is constant. Let's identify the terms:
- The first term ([tex]\(a_1\)[/tex]) is 3.
- The common difference ([tex]\(d\)[/tex]) can be found by subtracting the first term from the second term:
[tex]\[ d = 8 - 3 = 5 \][/tex]

The general form for the [tex]\(n\)[/tex]-th term of an arithmetic sequence is given by:
[tex]\[ a_n = a_1 + (n-1)d \][/tex]

We want to know if 127 is in the sequence. Therefore, we need to solve for [tex]\(n\)[/tex] in the equation:
[tex]\[ 127 = 3 + (n-1) \cdot 5 \][/tex]

First, isolate the term involving [tex]\(n\)[/tex]:
[tex]\[ 127 - 3 = (n-1) \cdot 5 \][/tex]
[tex]\[ 124 = (n-1) \cdot 5 \][/tex]

Next, solve for [tex]\(n-1\)[/tex] by dividing both sides of the equation by the common difference, 5:
[tex]\[ \frac{124}{5} = n - 1 \][/tex]

Performing the division:
[tex]\[ 24.8 = n - 1 \][/tex]

Then, solve for [tex]\(n\)[/tex] by adding 1 to both sides:
[tex]\[ n = 24.8 + 1 \][/tex]
[tex]\[ n = 25.8 \][/tex]

Since [tex]\(n\)[/tex] needs to be an integer (as [tex]\(n\)[/tex] represents the term index in the sequence), and 25.8 is not an integer, we conclude that 127 is not a term in the sequence.

Thus, 127 is not in the sequence.