If (a_1=7) and (a_{n+1}=a_n+3), what is the value of (a_5-a_2)?
By the recursive rule, each new term is 3 greater than the previous term. Thus, \(a_2=10\) and \(a_5=19\). Therefore, \(a_5-a_2=19-10=9\). The value 12 would correspond to a gap of four steps, but there are only three steps from \(a_2\) to \(a_5\). Exam tip: in an arithmetic progression, the difference between two terms equals the number of steps times the common difference.