Find the sum of the first 9 terms of the following sequence. Round to the nearest hundredth if necessary.8,−4,2,…Sum of a finite geometric series:Sn=1−ra1−a1rnAnswer:
Q. Find the sum of the first 9 terms of the following sequence. Round to the nearest hundredth if necessary.8,−4,2,…Sum of a finite geometric series:Sn=1−ra1−a1rnAnswer:
Identify sequence type: First, we need to identify the type of sequence we are dealing with. The sequence 8,−4,2,… appears to be a geometric sequence because each term is obtained by multiplying the previous term by a common ratio. To find the common ratio (r), we divide the second term by the first term.r=(−4)/8=−1/2
Calculate common ratio: Next, we use the formula for the sum of the first n terms of a geometric series, which is:Sn=1−ra1−a1⋅rnwhere Sn is the sum of the first n terms, a1 is the first term, r is the common ratio, and n is the number of terms.
Use sum formula: We plug in the values we know into the formula to find the sum of the first 9 terms:a1=8 (the first term)r=−21 (the common ratio)n=9 (the number of terms we want to sum)S9=1−(−21)8−8⋅(−21)9
Calculate (−21)9: Now we calculate the value of (−21)9:(−21)9=−5121
Substitute into formula: We substitute this value into the sum formula:S9=1−(−21)8−8×(−5121)S9=1+218−8×(−5121)S9=238−(−641)
Simplify expression: We simplify the expression:S9=238+641S9=2364512+641S9=2364513
Divide by reciprocal: To divide by a fraction, we multiply by its reciprocal:S9=64513×32S9=96513
Simplify fraction: We simplify the fraction by dividing both the numerator and the denominator by their greatest common divisor, which is 3: S9=32171
Convert to decimal: Finally, we convert the fraction to a decimal to round to the nearest hundredth if necessary:S9≈5.34375Rounded to the nearest hundredth, S9≈5.34
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