The sequence has the sum of its first terms equal to . Given that and . For the sequence , we have , and for .
(1) Prove that the sequence is a geometric sequence.
(2) Find the general formula for the terms of the sequence .
Solution
Let's prove each part step-by-step.
(1) We are given that . It follows that for , we have , which simplifies to , hence . For , we have . Subtracting the nth equation from the n+1th, we get:
Since , the left side can be written as . This implies , so . Therefore, the ratio between consecutive terms and is:
Given that , we conclude that is a geometric sequence with first term and common ratio .
(2) Knowing that is a geometric sequence with first term and common ratio , we can write:
And thus:
For , it follows that:
For , we have:
For , we simply have . Therefore, the general term for is:
For all (positive integers).
The general formula for the terms of the sequence is thus:
for all .
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