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Use the initial term and the recursive formula to find an explicit formula for the sequence aa. Write your answer in simplest form. \newlinea=21a = 21 \newlinea=a2a = a - 2 \newlinea = ______

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Q. Use the initial term and the recursive formula to find an explicit formula for the sequence aa. Write your answer in simplest form. \newlinea=21a = 21 \newlinea=a2a = a - 2 \newlinea = ______
  1. Start with Initial Term: The initial term of the sequence is given as a=21a = 21. This is the starting point of our sequence.
  2. Define Recursive Formula: The recursive formula given is a=a2a = a - 2, which means each term is 22 less than the previous term. However, this recursive formula is not properly defined. A recursive formula should relate the term ana_n to a(n1)a_{(n-1)}. Let's assume the correct recursive formula is an=a(n1)2a_n = a_{(n-1)} - 2, where nn represents the position in the sequence.
  3. Find Explicit Formula: To find the explicit formula, we need to express the nth term ana_n in terms of the initial term and nn. Since the sequence decreases by 22 each time, we can write the explicit formula as an=a12(n1)a_n = a_1 - 2(n - 1), where a1a_1 is the first term of the sequence.
  4. Substitute Initial Term: Substitute the initial term a1=21a_1 = 21 into the explicit formula to get an=212(n1)a_n = 21 - 2(n - 1).
  5. Simplify Explicit Formula: Simplify the explicit formula by distributing the 2-2 across the (n1)(n - 1) term: an=212n+2a_n = 21 - 2n + 2.
  6. Combine Like Terms: Combine like terms to get the final explicit formula: an=232na_n = 23 - 2n.

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