Question

How do I find the fifth term of a geometric sequence on a calculator?

Answer 1

A geometric sequence is a sequence of the form

a

,

a

r

,

a

r

2

,

a

r

3

,

...

where

a

is an initial value and

r

is a common ratio between terms.

Note that the first term of the sequence is

a

r

0

so the

n

th term of the sequence is

a

r

n

−

1

Thus, in order to find the fifth term, assuming prior knowledge of

a

and

r

, simply plug in

a

⋅

r

4

.