Q:

At the beginning of an experiment, there are 400 grams of contaminants. Each hour, three-fourths of the contaminants are filtered out.A. Formulate a recursive sequence modeling the number of grams after "n" hours.B. Use the model to calculate the amount of contaminants after the third hour of the experiment.

Accepted Solution

A:
The recursive sequence is:[tex]T_n = \frac 14T_{n-1}[/tex] and there are 25 contaminants left after the third hour of the experimentThe recursive sequenceThe initial number Β of contaminant is 400.If 3/4 contaminants are filtered out, there are 1/4 contaminants left.So, the recursive sequence is:[tex]T_n = \frac 14T_{n-1}[/tex]Where T1 = 400The number of contaminants after the third hourThis means that n = 3.So, we have:[tex]T_3 = \frac 14 * T_2[/tex][tex]T_2 = \frac 14 * T_1[/tex]Substitute [tex]T_2 = \frac 14 * T_1[/tex] in [tex]T_3 = \frac 14 * T_2[/tex][tex]T_3 = \frac 14 * \frac 14 * T_1[/tex]Substitute 400 for T1[tex]T_3 = \frac 14 * \frac 14 * 400[/tex]Evaluate[tex]T_3 = 25[/tex]Hence, there are 25 contaminants left after the third hour of the experimentRead more about recursive sequence at: