Find the common ratio for the following geometric sequence.
5, 8.5, 14.45, 24.565, . . .
To find the common ratio in a geometric sequence, you divide any term by its previous term.
Let's take the second term, 8.5, and divide it by the first term, 5:
8.5 ÷ 5 = 1.7
Now let's take the third term, 14.45, and divide it by the second term, 8.5:
14.45 ÷ 8.5 ≈ 1.7
We can see that both division results in approximately 1.7.
Similarly, if we divide the fourth term, 24.565, by the third term, 14.45, we will again get approximately 1.7.
Therefore, the common ratio for this geometric sequence is approximately 1.7.