Finding the 9th Term of a Geometric Sequence: a9 = -781250

Published on March 30, 2026

Algebra

Calculate the 9th term (a9) for the geometric series -2, -10, -50, ... by finding the common ratio (r=5) and applying the formula an = a1(r)n-1.

Question

Answer

The problem asks to find the 9th term ( ) of the given geometric series.
The sequence is:
A geometric sequence is defined by its first term and its common ratio . The -th term is given by the formula:
Step 1: Identify the first term ( )
The first term of the sequence is:
Step 2: Find the common ratio ( )
The common ratio is found by dividing any term by the preceding term:
Check with the next terms:
The common ratio is .
Step 3: Determine the desired term number ( )
We need to find , so .
Step 4: Plug , , and into the formula
Substitute , , and :
Step 5: Solve for
First, calculate :
Now, substitute this value back into the equation for :
The 9th term of the geometric series is .