If 6, P, and 14 are consecutive terms in an Arithmetic Progression (AP), find the value of P.
Answer Details
In an arithmetic progression (AP), the difference between any two consecutive terms is constant.
So, we can find the common difference (d) between any two consecutive terms in the given AP by subtracting one term from the preceding term. Let's use the second term (P) and the first term (6) to find the common difference:
d = P - 6
Now, to check whether 14 is the third term of the AP, we can use the formula for the nth term of an AP:
an = a1 + (n-1)d
where
an = nth term
a1 = first term
d = common difference
If 14 is the third term, then n = 3, so we have:
14 = 6 + (3-1)d
14 = 6 + 2d
2d = 8
d = 4
Now, we can substitute the value of d in the expression we got earlier:
d = P - 6
4 = P - 6
P = 10
Therefore, the value of P is 10.