How do you write the first five terms of the sequence #a_n=(-1/2)^n#?

1 Answer
May 25, 2018

Plug it in!

Explanation:

So we have to know where the sequence starts, but we will assume it starts at #n = 0# (there may be some different practice in your class, usually #n = 1# if not #n = 0#)

Therefore, we can plug in the first few:
#a_0 = (-1/2)^0 = 1#
#a_1 = (-1/2)^1 = -1/2#
#a_2 = (-1/2)^2 = 1/4#
#a_3 = (-1/2)^3 = -1/8#
#a_4 = (-1/2)^4 = 1/16#

giving us the beginning of our sequence.