There was a sample of 950 milligrams of a radioactive substance to start a study. Since then, the sample has decayed by 8.5% each year.
Lett be the number of years since the start of the study. Let y be the mass of the sample in milligrams.

, and

for

step-by-step explanation:

we can analyze the pattern at which the terms increase. let us denote , , , so that we can call

note the following:

the pattern: to get the next term value, we just add the next term number (e.g. 1st, 2nd, to the previous term value (term values are the given numbers in the question, 1, 3, 6, 10, 15,

from , to get to , we add

from , to get to , we add

etc.

we need to form a recursive formula, a formula that has the next term as a function of the previous term. so a possible recursive formula can be

, and for

step-by-step explanation:

because 1/3 is a fraction. we can tell because there is a divisor symbol between the 1 and the 3. if we were to add 2 fractions together, we would add the numerators, which is the number on top, but not the denominators, which is the number on the bottom

1/3+1/3=2/3

hope this !