I'm currently doing some numeric sequence problems on an Algebra worksheet. But I've stumbled upon this problem and I don't seem to be able to solve it.
The problem is as follows:
The general term of (an) is an=(n+1)21 .
Find the first five terms of (bn) , the general term of which is
bn=(an)2−an−1 .
So far I've managed to find the first 6 terms of (an) :
a1=41;a2=91;a3=161;a4=251;a5=361;a6=491; .
But I don't know how to go about finding (b1) because I would need an−1 which is (a0). I've thought about finding (a0) and then substituting it in (b1) but I don't know if that is the right approach.
The problem is as follows:
The general term of (an) is an=(n+1)21 .
Find the first five terms of (bn) , the general term of which is
bn=(an)2−an−1 .
So far I've managed to find the first 6 terms of (an) :
a1=41;a2=91;a3=161;a4=251;a5=361;a6=491; .
But I don't know how to go about finding (b1) because I would need an−1 which is (a0). I've thought about finding (a0) and then substituting it in (b1) but I don't know if that is the right approach.