What are the first four terms of the sequence represented by the expression n(n - 1) - 4?
A.) -2, 2, 6, 10
B.) -3, 0, 3, 6
C.) -4, -2, 2, 8
D.) -5, -4, -2, 6
I don't get this question, can someone help please?
I seen similar questions to this and they said something to do with plug-ins. What plug-ins do I use here?
n is the number of the term
plug in 1, 2, 3, and 4 for n to find the 1st four terms
Okay, thank you!
Sure! Let's break down the expression n(n - 1) - 4 to understand what it represents.
The expression n(n - 1) represents the product of n and (n - 1). So for each value of n, you would first subtract 1 from n and then multiply the result by n. Finally, you subtract 4 from the product.
To find the terms of the sequence represented by this expression, we can substitute different values for n and calculate the corresponding terms.
Let's start by plugging in n = 1:
1(1 - 1) - 4 = 0 - 4 = -4
Now, let's substitute n = 2:
2(2 - 1) - 4 = 2 - 4 = -2
Next, substitute n = 3:
3(3 - 1) - 4 = 6 - 4 = 2
Lastly, for n = 4:
4(4 - 1) - 4 = 12 - 4 = 8
So, the first four terms of the sequence represented by the expression n(n - 1) - 4 are -4, -2, 2, and 8.
Comparing this with the answer choices,
A.) -2, 2, 6, 10
B.) -3, 0, 3, 6
C.) -4, -2, 2, 8
D.) -5, -4, -2, 6
We can see that the correct answer is C.) -4, -2, 2, 8