What are the first four terms of the sequence given by the formula below?

an = - 2n + 4

In order to solve this problem, We need to substitute the first four numbers (1,2,3,4) for n. After this we calculate:

First item:

a1 = - 2*1 + 4=-2+4=2

Second item:

a2 = - 2*2 + 4 = - 4+4=0

Third item:

a3 = - 2*3 + 4 = - 6+4=-2

Forth item:

a4 = - 2*4 + 4 = - 8+4=-4

So the first 4 items are: 2,0,-2,-4 ...