if the the fifth time of an ap is 18 and 11th term is 42 the first time is
Answer: The first term is 2.
Step-by-step solution
Step 1: Set up equations using the term formula
Let be the first term and be the common difference of the arithmetic progression. Using the formula , the 5th term is , and the 11th term is .
Step 2: Solve for the common difference
Subtract equation (1) from equation (2) to eliminate the variable . This gives , which simplifies to .
Step 3: Substitute to find the first term
Substitute back into equation (1). We get , which simplifies to , giving .