Subject:
Re: CSE191, 7.1 - number 5: 200909_102694_CH
From:
"William J. Rapaport" <rapaport@buffalo.edu>
Date:
Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:57:20 -0500 (EST)
To:
"200909_102694_CH":;

The student responds:
"I was thinking, a_n = 0, and that a_n-1 was the number before 0 which is -1 and a_n-2 is the number before a_n-1 which would be -2."

Reply:
a_n-1 is the term before a_n. To compute its value, you need to know a formula for a_n. The problem gives you two different formulas, one recursive, and one explicit. You need to decide if they are the same for all values of n.