College Math Placement Practice Test

Find the first four terms of the arithmetic sequence starting at 3 with a common difference of 5.

1. 3, 7, 12, 17

2. 3, 8, 13, 18

3. 3, 5, 8, 13

4. 3, 9, 15, 21

The correct answer is: 3, 8, 13, 18

To find the first four terms of an arithmetic sequence, we begin with the first term and continuously add the common difference to generate subsequent terms. In this case, the first term is 3 and the common difference is 5. To find the terms: 1. The first term is given as 3. 2. The second term is calculated by adding the common difference to the first term: \(3 + 5 = 8\). 3. The third term is then calculated by adding the common difference to the second term: \(8 + 5 = 13\). 4. Finally, the fourth term is derived by adding the common difference to the third term: \(13 + 5 = 18\). Thus, the first four terms of the sequence are 3, 8, 13, and 18. This aligns exactly with the selection that includes those values. The option selected shows a clear understanding of how to generate terms in an arithmetic sequence using the specified starting point and common difference, demonstrating the proper method for this kind of problem.