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5.5.1 Finding the Nth Term of a Geometric Progression


Instructions: Use the following tutorial to help introduce or reinforce the concept of Finding the Nth Term of a Geometric Progression. Read through the introduction, then study and familiarize yourself with the definitions of terms. Next, use the incremental calculator to study each step of the process of Finding the Nth Term of a Geometric Progression. Finally, use the calculator for examples to quiz yourself.
An geometric progression is a sequence or pattern of numbers in which each term is calculated by multiplying r to the previous number. The nth term of a geometric progression is obtained by using first term a and the common ratio r in this equation:
an= arn-1
An example of this problem is to take the sequence 2,4,8,16... and finding the 10th term. a= 2, n= 10, and r= 2. an=2*2(10-1)= 1024. Thus the 10th term is 1024.

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