In an arithmetic sequence, the first term is 5 and the fourth term is 40. Find the second term.

The equation for finding the nth term of an arithmetic sequence is,

an = a1 + (n - 1) x d

where a1 is the first term and d is the common ratio. Using the given term,

40 = 5 + (4 - 1) x d

The value of d is 11.67. For the second term,

a2 = 5 + (2 - 1) x 11.67 = 16.67

Thus, the second term is 16.67.