Consider the geometric sequence below:
[tex]\[ -21, 63, -189, 567, \ldots \][/tex]

Complete the recursively defined function to describe this sequence.

[tex]\[ f(1) = \][/tex]
[tex]\[ f(n) = f(n-1) \cdot \][/tex] for [tex]\( n \geq 2 \)[/tex]



Answer :

To solve this problem and describe the given geometric sequence, let’s work through the steps required for constructing the recursively defined function.

The given sequence is:
[tex]\[ -21, 63, -189, 567, \ldots \][/tex]

First, let's establish a few key elements of the sequence:

1. First term of the sequence ([tex]\( f(1) \)[/tex]):
The first term is [tex]\(-21\)[/tex].

2. Common ratio ([tex]\( r \)[/tex]):
To determine the common ratio, divide the second term by the first term.
[tex]\[ r = \frac{63}{-21} = -3 \][/tex]

Now, we have:
- The first term, [tex]\( f(1) = -21 \)[/tex]
- The common ratio, [tex]\( r = -3 \)[/tex]

Given a geometric sequence, the general formula for the [tex]\(n\)[/tex]-th term is:
[tex]\[ f(n) = f(1) \cdot r^{(n-1)} \][/tex]

### Recursively Defined Function
A recursively defined function specifies each term of the sequence based on the previous term. For this geometric sequence, we can define it as follows:

- The first term is provided directly:
[tex]\[ f(1) = -21 \][/tex]

- From the second term onward, each term is the product of the previous term and the common ratio:
[tex]\[ f(n) = f(n-1) \cdot (-3) \quad \text{for } n \geq 2 \][/tex]

Combining these, the recursively defined function for the sequence is:
[tex]\[ \begin{cases} f(1) = -21 \\ f(n) = f(n-1) \cdot (-3) & \text{for } n \geq 2 \end{cases} \][/tex]

This completes the recursive definition of the given geometric sequence.

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