Sequences · Grade 9

In Grade 9 you get fluent with: the nth term of a linear sequence.

A sequence is a list of numbers that follows a rule, like 3, 7, 11, 15, … Once you know the rule you can predict any term — the next one or the 100th — without writing them all out.

Key facts

  • Arithmetic sequences go up or down by a common difference d. Their nth term is dn + c.
  • To find c, work out the “zero term”: the first term minus d.

Worked examples

Example 1

Find the nth term of 5, 9, 13, 17, …

Answer: 4n + 1

Example 2

Is 150 a term of the sequence with nth term 7n − 4?

Answer: Yes, the 22nd term

Other years