Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2007 / ia / Paper 2 / 8B / i / Solution

For the homogeneous linear recurrence relation, a trial $u_k=r^k$ gives the characteristic equation of a linear recurrence $r^2+5r+6=(r+2)(r+3)=0$. Thus the two homogeneous sequences are $(-2{)}^k$ and $(-3{)}^k$. Seek a particular solution $u_k=ak+b$; substitution gives $12ak+12b-5a=12k+1$, so $a=1$ and $b=1/2$. HenceThe two independent constants supply arbitrary initial values for this second-order linear recurrence relation.