Series [Solved!]

My question

56, 55, 52, 45 ... ...

Find the nth term the above series.

Relevant page

Series and the Binomial Theorem

What I've done so far

Factors of

56 - 2, 2, 1 14

55 - 1, 1, 5, 11

52 - 2, 2, 1 13

45 - 3, 3, 5

I am really stuck???

X

56, 55, 52, 45 ... ...

Find the nth term the above series.
Relevant page

<a href="/series-binomial-theorem/series-introduction.php">Series and the Binomial Theorem</a>

What I've done so far

Factors of

56 -   2, 2,      1        14

55 -   1, 1,      5,       11

52 -   2, 2,      1        13

45 -   3, 3,      5

I am really stuck???

Re: Series

Is it an arithmetic progression? (How do you know?)

Or is it a geometric one? (How do you know?)

X

Is it an arithmetic progression? (How do you know?)

Or is it a geometric one? (How do you know?)

Re: Series

I cannot find any order!!!!!!

X

I cannot find any order!!!!!!

Re: Series

Our process is to decide what kind of progression it is. Can you answer my 4 questions?

X

Our process is to decide what kind of progression it is. Can you answer my 4 questions?

Re: Series

The series has a decreasing tendency.
The difference between the figures are:
-1, -3, -7

(-5 is missing in the range)

Say it is -1, -3, -7, -11, -17, -19

there is a jump over every 3rd number.

The series is 56, 55, 52, 45, 34, 17, -2

As such it is an AP.

As for geometric progression(GP), the figures do no have a common ratio as shown below and hence is not a GP.

56 55 52 45
55/56 52/55 45/52
0.982142857 0.945454545 0.865384615

It looks to be more an AP than a GP.

Now I cannot find the nth terms. The reason is that I have gone wrong in my analysis.

X

The series has a decreasing tendency.
The difference between the figures are:
-1, -3, -7

(-5 is missing in the range)

Say it is -1, -3,  -7, -11,  -17, -19

there is a jump over every 3rd number.

The series is 56, 55, 52, 45, 34, 17, -2

As such it is an AP.

As for geometric progression(GP), the figures do no have a common ratio as shown below and hence is not a GP.

56	55	52	45
55/56	52/55	45/52
0.982142857	0.945454545	0.865384615

It looks to be more an AP than a GP.

Now I cannot find the nth terms.  The reason is that I have gone wrong in my analysis.

Re: Series

What is the nth term?

X

What is the nth term?

Re: Series

You're right that it seems to be more like an AP, but it's not, and neither is your example, 56, 55, 52, 45, 34, 17, -2, since there is no common difference.

Please also note it's not a series (where the terms are added) - it's a progression (where there is some common pattern between each of the terms).

I believe in this case there is not enough information. When it's neither AP nor GP, we usually need more terms to decide what's going on. Sometimes people make up some pattern that seems consistent to them, but I don't believe that is the case here.

X

You're right that it seems to be more like an AP, but it's not, and neither is your example, 56, 55, 52, 45, 34, 17, -2, since there is no common difference.

Please also note it's not a series (where the terms are added) - it's a progression (where there is some common pattern between each of the terms).

I believe in this case there is not enough information. When it's neither AP nor GP, we usually need more terms to decide what's going on. Sometimes people make up some pattern that seems consistent to them, but I don't believe that is the case here.

Re: Series

Thank you very much

X

Thank you very much