Answer the question and tell whether it illustrates inductive or deductive reasoning.
(a) What is the 50th consecutive even number?
The 50th consecutive even number can be found by using inductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning involves making observations or generalizations based on patterns or trends in data. In this case, we can start with the observation that the first even number is 2, the second is 4, the third is 6, and so on. We can see a pattern that each subsequent even number is obtained by adding 2 to the previous one. Using this pattern, we can continue adding 2 to each even number until we reach the 50th even number.
To find the 50th consecutive even number, we can start with the first even number, which is 2, and add 2 repeatedly. The second even number is 2 + 2 = 4, the third is 4 + 2 = 6, and so on. By continuing this pattern, we can find the 50th consecutive even number by adding 2 to the 49th consecutive even number. Thus, the 50th consecutive even number is 2 + (2 * 49) = 100.
Therefore, the answer to the question is 100, and the reasoning used to obtain it is inductive reasoning.