What is a Number Pattern?

Back to Top A sequence of numbers which follows a certain pattern is called number pattern. Like 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, ....... is a number pattern whose first term is 1 and jumps 4 every time to get the other terms. For any number pattern tn represent the nth term of the pattern. So, in the above example t 1 = 1, t2 = 5, t3 = 9, t4 = 13 etc.

Prime Number Pattern

Back to Top Any whole number which is greater than one and that is divided by one or by itself only is known as prime number. As 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, .... If in any pattern, all the numbers are prime numbers, then that is called prime number pattern.

Imaginary Number Pattern

Back to Top If the square of any number is zero, then that number is called an imaginary number. Any imaginary number is expressed as multiplication of a real number and i, which is an imaginary unit and i 2 = -1.

Geometric Number Patterns

Back to Top A number pattern n is a pattern in which every successive term is multiplying(dividing) by a same value each time. For example, 4, 16, 64, ...... is a geometric number pattern in which 4 is the first number and we can multiply 4 by 4 to get 16 and multiply 16 by 4 to get 6 etc. 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, .... is again a geometric number pattern in which the fixed number is $\frac{1}{2}$ which is a multiplier.

Growing Number Patterns

Back to Top A pattern in which the number are in the increasing form is called the growing number pattern. In this pattern, the amount that added in the terms, changes every time in predictable manner. For example, consider 4, 5, 7, 10, 14, 19, ..... In the above pattern, the pattern starts with 4, add 1 and the amount which we can add increase by 1 every time.

Repeating Number Patterns

Back to Top Some times, the same amount of value can be added or subtracted each time as long the pattern goes. Then, such type of pattern is called repeating pattern. In this pattern, the pattern never changes. For example, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, ... is a repeating pattern which starts at value 4 and add 2 each time in

the previous value. Similarly, 4, 8, 16, 32, .... is again a repeating pattern in which we can multiply each time the previous value by 2.

Number Pattern Recognition

Back to Top To recognition of any sequence, we have to know that how the terms of a sequence are related may be they are in arithmetic form or growing pattern or geometric pattern. Let us consider 1, 8, 27, 64,..... Here, we can find the next number as follows: Write down the sequence as 13, 23, 33, 43,...... So, the next terms are 53 = 125 and 63 = 216

Fibonacci Number Pattern

Back to Top In fibonacci number pattern, the first number of the sequence is 0 or 1 and each new number is the sum of its previous two numbers as 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, ....... In this sequence, 0 is at the first place and 1 is at the second place. When we add 0 and 1, we get new member of the sequence which is 1, when we add 1 and 1, we get 2 etc.

Number Pattern Rules

Back to Top In number pattern, numbers are arranged in a manner that is known as the rule of the pattern. According to the given definition or given sequence, there are some rule of patterns as: 1. Prime Pattern Rule 2. Explicit Pattern Rule 3. Implicit Pattern Rule 4. Repeating Pattern Rule 5. Recursive Pattern Rule 6. Growing Pattern Rule

Extending Number Patterns

Back to Top A formula for extending a sequence an be used to work out any term of a sequence with out working out all the terms. Let us find the 40th term of the sequence 2, 4, 6, 8,..... The terms can be found as 1st term = 1 x 2 = 2

2nd term = 2 x 2 = 4 3rd term = 3 x 2 = 6 ................................... ................................... This patten can be extended to give 40th term = 40 x 2 = 80

Finding Number Patterns

Back to Top Here, we are going to learn about the concept of numeric patterns with simple examples and solutions to understand easily for the students.

Solved Examples
Question 1: Find the next number in the pattern 45, 48, 51, 54, 57, ___ Solution: Given pattern is 45, 48, 51, 54, 57, ___

Here, the pattern is a repeated addition of 3, we get 45, 48, 51, 54, 57, 60 In the problem, sixth term is 60 in this pattern. Therefore, the next number in the above pattern is 60 for the repeated addition of 3.

Question 2: Find out the missing number in the pattern 67, 74, 81, 88, __, 102 Solution: Given pattern is 67, 74, 81, 88, __, 102

Here, the pattern is repeated addition of 7, we get 67, 74, 81, 88, __, 102 In the problem, fifth term is 95. Therefore, the missing term in the above pattern is 95 for the repeated addition of 7.

Question 3: Find out the missing number in the pattern 19, 24, 29, 34, ___, ___, 49, 54 Solution: Given pattern is 19, 24, 29, 34, ___, ___, 49, 54

Here, the pattern is a repeated addition of 5, we get 19, 24, 29, 34, 39, 44, 49, 54 In the problem, fifth and sixth term is missing. So, 39 and 44 is missing. Therefore, the missing number in the above pattern is 39 and 44.

Question 4: What is the next number in the pattern 108, 102, 96, ___ Solution: Given pattern is 108, 102, 96, ___

Here, the pattern is the subtraction of 6, 108, 102, 96, 90 In the problem, fourth term is missing and the next term of the given pattern is 90. Therefore, the next number in the above pattern is 90 for the subtraction of 6.

Number Sequences and Patterns

Number sequences and patterns is the science of numbers. Our mathematical initiation starts with the number sequence 1, 3, 4, . . . .At various stages of our mathematics education, we get acquainted with various number sequences, such as the even numbers 2, 4, 6, , the odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7 , the perfect squares are 1, 4, 9, , and so on.

Different Types of Sequences and Patterns

Back to Top

Look at the sequence of pattern below: 1, , 2, , 3,

Is this an arithmetic progression? Look at its term once again:

The sequences are, 1+ =

+ =2 2+ + = =3

and so on. Thus the terms of this sequence are got by starting from 1 and repeatedly adding . So, this is also an arithmetic progression. Look at another one: 20, 15, 10, 5 Is this an arithmetic progression? Here, the terms decrease by 5 as 20- 5 = 15 15 5 = 10 10 5 = 5 and so on. But cant we write 20 - 5 as 20 + (-5)? Thus we have 20 + (-5) = 15 15 + (-5) = 10 10 + (-5) = 5 as the terms of the sequence. In other words we start from 20 and repeatedly add -5. So, this too is an arithmetic progression.

Progression Definition

Back to Top A sequence is said to be progression, if there is a same relation between the terms and each term is related to it's previous term under a uniform law. Example: 1, 2, 3, 4, ...... is called progression, since the given sequence follows a same rule or law through out the sequence and there is a relation between each term and it's previous one.

Arithmetic Progression
Back to Top

Arithmetic progression is a sequence of number following a pattern such that the difference between any two successive numbers is a constant. General representation of an arithmetic progression is as follows. a, a + d, a + 2d, a + 3d ........... a + (n - 1)d, where "a" is initial value and "d" is common difference. Example: 1, 2, 3, 4 Here, initial number is 1 and difference between any two successive numbers is 1. Formulas for Arithmetic Progressions (A.P) 1. nth term of an A.P is a + (n - 1)d 2. Sum to "n" terms of terms in AP is

n2

[2a + (n - 1)d]

3. Sum of square of numbers in an A.P is given by n(n+1)(2n+6)6 4. If a, b, c are in A.P, then b = a+c2
Read More

Geometric Progression
Back to Top

It is the sequence of numbers such that ratio of successive numbers is constant. The general geometric progression is given as a, ad ,ad 2, . . . . . , ad(n - 1). Here, initial number is "a" and common ratio is "d". Example: 1, 2, 4, 8 Here, initial number is 1 and common difference is 2.

Formuls for Geometric progression (G.P) 1. nth term of an G.P is ar(n - 1) 2. sum to infinite terms of a G.P is a1r where r <1.
3. If a, b, c are in geometric progression, then 4. Sum to numbers in G.P is a(1rn)1r
Read More

a=bc

Harmonic Progression
Back to Top

The harmonic progression is the sequence of numbers which follows a pattern such that the difference of successive denominators of fractions are always equal. The general form is a, a/d, a/(a + d), a/(a + 2d), . . . . a/(a + nd). It is a sequence formed by taking the reciprocals of arithmetic progression. Examples: 1/3 ,1/4 ,1/5 Formulas for Harmonic progressions (H.P) If a, b, c are in harmonic progression, middle term "b" is given by the formula b = Relation between A.M , H.M ,G.M The relation between AM, GM, HM is GM 2 = AM * HM. So, AM, GM, HM are in turn ingeometric progression.
Read More Back to Top Given below are some of the examples on Progressions.
2aca+c

Progression Examples

Solved Examples
Question 1: The nth term of a sequence is given as 9. Initial term is 1. Common difference is 2. Which term is that? Solution: nth term of sequence is given by a + (n - 1)d

a = 1, d = 2 and Sn = 9

9 = 1 + (n - 1)2 9 - 1 = (n - 1)2 8/2 = n - 1 4+1=n So, 5th term of sequence is 9.

Question 2: Find the sum of sequence 2, 4, 6, 8 ...... 12 having 6 terms. Solution: Sum of sequence is n/2(a + L)

L = 12, a = 2, n = 6 sum = n/2 (a + L) sum = 6/2 (2 + 12) sum = 3 * 14 sum = 56

Question 3: Find the arithmetic mean A.M for following numbers 2, 5, 8. Solution: Arithmetic mean of a sequence is sum of those numbers divided by number of numbers.

So, A.M of 2, 5, 8 = (2 + 5 + 8) / 3 = 15/3 =5

Question 4: Arithmetic mean (A.M) of two numbers is 10. One of the numbers is 14. Find the other number. Solution:

A.M is given as 10 and one of the two numbers is 14.

10 = (14 + x) / 2 20 = 14 + x x = 20 - 14 x=6

Question 5: Find the geometric mean (G.M) of numbers 2, 32. Solution: Geometric mean of two numbers is given by square root (32 * 2) =

64 = 8

Hence, G.M of two numbers is 2, 32 is 8

Sequence Definition
Back to Top

A sequence is an ordered set of numbers which follows some rule. Technically, we can say that a sequence is a function whose range is the set of real number and the domain is the set of natural number. The total number of elements of a sequence is known as the length of the sequence. Each number in a sequence is called a term. A sequence can have finite number of terms or infinite number of terms. A sequence with finite number of terms is called a finite sequence and a sequence with infinite number of terms is called infinite sequence If the terms of the series are added together, we get a series. So, the sum of the terms of the sequence is called a series Examples: 1. The sequence 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27 is a finite numeric sequence with 7 terms. 2. The expression 4 + 8 + 12 + 16 + 20 is finite numeric series with 5 terms. As per the sequence rule, we have three types of basic sequence as follows:

Arithmetic Sequence:

An arithmetic sequence is a sequence of numbers or expressions in which the difference between a term and it's previous term is a constant Examples: 1. 3,6,9,12,15 2. 4,8,12,16,20 The general form of an arithmetic sequence with first term and common difference d is given by a, a + d, a + 2d, ., a + (n 1)d, ..

Notice that the first term is a, second term is a + d, third term is a + 2d etc. So, the nthterm will be a + (n - 1)d.

Geometric Sequence:
A geometric sequence is a sequence in which the ratio of any term to it's previous term is a constant. Examples: 1. 10, 20, 40, 80, 2. 7, 21, 63, 189, The general form of an arithmetic sequence with first term and common ratio r is given by a, ar, ar2, ar3, ar4.., ar(n
1)

Notice that first term is a, second term is ar, third term is ar 2. So, the nth term will be ar(n 1) .

Harmonic Sequence:
A harmonic sequence has it's reciprocals in arithmetic sequence. This means, if you take any arithmetic sequence, the reciprocals of the terms are said to be in harmonic sequence Example: 11, 12, 13, 14,........

The general from of an harmonic sequence can be derived from the general from of the arithmetic sequence by taking the reciprocal of the terms.

Recursive Sequence
Back to Top In some sequences, we get the next term by doing some operations in the previous term. This type of sequences is called recursive sequence. In this sequence, we have to know about the previous term which is immediately before the term we are trying to find out. The formula for recursive sequence has two parts 1. a1, which is the starting value 2. the recursion equation for the term an Example: 3, 6, 12, 24, .... This is quite similar to geometric sequence. But, the recursive formula for this is a n = 2an - 1

Integer Sequences
Back to Top If any sequence has integers in it, then the sequence is called the integer sequence. This sequence may be specified explicitly or implicitly. If we have any formula for n thterm, then an integer sequence is specified explicitly and we have a relationship between the term, then the sequence is specified implicitly. Example: If any sequence is formed according to the formula n 2 - 1, then we get 0, 3, 8, 15, 24, .... which is an integer sequence defined explicitly.

Convergent Sequence
Back to Top A sequence is said to be convergent sequence, if it has a limit that is the real number. So, any sequence Sn converges to it's limit S as limnSn=S 1. If the sequence 1.1, 1.01, 1.001, 1.0001, .... has its limit equal to 1, the sequence is convergent sequence. 2. If the sequence 2, 4, 6, 8, ........ has a limit which is infinity which is not a real number, the sequence is not a convergent sequence.

Bounded Sequence
Back to Top If all the terms of any sequence are less than or equal to any given number say M, then the sequence is called bounded above and M is called the upper bound of the sequence. And, if all the terms of any sequence are greater than or equal to any given number say N, then the sequence is called bounded

below and N is called the lower bound of the sequence. So, if any sequence has lower bound and an upper bound, then it is known as the bounded sequence. A sequence x1, x2, x3, ..... is bounded sequence if M > 0 in a way that |xn|<M for all M N

Linear Sequence
Back to Top

Any sequence which is increased or decreased by the same quantity of amount every time is called linear sequence or if the difference between any two successive terms of a sequence is always same, then that sequence is known as linear sequence. Example: 12, 15, 18, 21, ...... is a linear sequence, since the difference between the successive terms is same. The difference is known as common difference. If the first difference is d, then a n = d . n + c, where c is adjustment constant which is either positive or negative as per the required sequence. So, the formula for above sequence is an = 3n + 9.

Quadratic Sequence
Back to Top A sequence with a general term that includes a variable that is squared is called the quadratic sequence. For example, n2 + 6 is the general term of any quadratic sequence. For finding the remaining terms, we can substitute the term number in the above expression and get the term. Let us find the first four terms of the sequence T(n) = 2n 2 - 1. Put the value of n = 1, 2, 3, 4. Then, T(1) = 2 -1 = 1 T(2) = 2(2)2 - 1 = 8 - 1 = 7 T(3) = 2(3)2 - 1 = 17 T(4) = 2(4)2 - 1= 31

Limits of Sequences
Back to Top

Let us have a sequence <xn>, then the terms of the sequence get close to some value which is called the limit of the sequence. This is the general idea of the limit of a sequence. Mathematically, we say that

1.

limnxn=M if >0, N in a way that |xnM|< where n > N i.e. value of the

sequence <xn> approaches M whenever n tends to infinity. 2. limnxn= for all L > 0, N such that xn > L, whenever n > N. We say that, as n approaches infinity, the value of the sequence get larger without bound.

3.

limnxn= for all L < 0, N such that xn < L, whenever n > N. We say that, as n
approaches infinity, the value of the sequence are negative and get larger without bound.

Types of Series
Back to Top A series is represented with the help of sigma notation as follows

n=1xn=x1+x2+x3+....+xn+.......
Where nth term summand is the nth term of a given sequence. According to the given sequence, we can divide the series as 1. Arithmetic Series 2. Geometric Series 3. Harmonic Series

Harmonic Series
Back to Top This is the reciprocal of the arithmetic series. Any series is said to be harmonic series if it is in the form as follows: 1a + 1a+d + 1a+2d + ....... Where, a is the first term and d is the difference of the series. Example: 1 + 12 + 13 + ........... For any harmonic series, there is no separate formula for finding the sum of it. But, we can find the sum of any harmonic series by finding the sum of arithmetic series and take the reciprocal of it which is the sum of the harmonic series.

Alternating Harmonic Series:

The formula for alternating harmonic series can be expressed as

n=1(1)n+1n=112+13.......+(1)n+1n+.....
The alternating harmonic series is a series which is conditionally convergent.

Fibonacci Series
Back to Top This is the sequence of numbers which is in the form in a way that we found the next number by adding up the two previous numbers before it. Like 2, 2, 4, 6, 10, 16,......... In the above series, 1. We found number 4 by adding two numbers whose are 2 , 2 i.e. 2 + 2. 2. Again, we found the number 6 by adding up 2 and 4 which comes before it. 3. And, the number 6 is found by adding up 4 and 6. And so on.

Fibonacci Series Formula:

If xn is the nth term, xn-1 is the n - 1th term and xn - 2 is the n - 2nd term of any fibonacci series, then we have a formula for it as xn = xn-1 + xn-2

Arithmetic Series
Back to Top A series with a constant difference between the terms is called arithmetic series. For example, 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, ...... is an arithmetic series, where the difference is same between the terms. If any series is in the form of a + (a + d ) + (a + 2d) + (a + 3d) + ........., it is called the arithmetic series, where a is the first term of the series and d is the difference of it which is known as the common difference of the given series.

Arithmetic Series Formula:

In an arithmetic series, if a is the first term, d is the difference and n is the total number of the terms, then the formula for nth term is given by an = a + (n - 1)d

Sum of Arithmetic Series:

The sum of an arithmetic series Sn is given by the formula Sn = n2 [2a + (n - 1)d]

Arithmetic Series Examples:

Given below are some of the examples on arithmetic series.

Solved Examples
Question 1: Find the sum of the series 3, 9, 27,........,99. Solution: For finding the sum of it, first we have to find the number of terms. Here, we have a = 3, d = 3 and a n = 99. Then, 99 = 3 + (n - 1)3 (n - 1)3 = 96 n - 1 = 32 n = 33 Then, Sn = n2 [a + (n - 1)d]

= 332 [3 + 32 x 3] = 332 [99] = 33992 = 1633.5 Question 2: Find the sum of first n natural numbers. (or) Find Solution: Let Sn = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + ... + n This series is an A.P. Here a = 1, d = 1, L = tn = n

nn=1n

Sn=n2(a+L)
= n2(1+n) = n(n+1)2

n1n=n(n+1)2

Geometric Series
Back to Top Any series in which the ratio of the second term and the first term is equal to the ratio of the third term and the second term and so on is known as the geometric series. We can use r to denote this ratio. This is called the common ratio for the geometric series.

Geometric Series Formula:

In general, we can define geometric series as

n=1arn=a+ar+ar2+ar3+......+arn+.......
Where, a is the first term of the series and r is the common ratio for it. Formula for nth term of the geometric series an = a1 rn - 1 Where, n is the number of the term.

Sum of Geometric Series:

The formula for sum of first n terms of any geometric series is given by

Sn=a(1rn)1r

Convergent Geometric Series:

If the value of the common ratio r lies in between 0 and 1 or IrI < 1, then the geometric series is said to be convergent.

n=0arn=a1r
And, if the value of r 1, then the series is diverges.

Geometric Series Examples:

Given below are some of the examples on geometric series.

Solved Examples
Question 1: Find the 10th term of the sequence 2, 4, 8, ..... Solution: The nth term of any geometric series is given by an = a1 rn - 1 Here, a = 2, r = 2. Then a10 = 2 x 29 = 2 x 512 = 1024 Question 2: Find the sum of the series 4n=14nr Solution: We have 4n=14nr Then, 4n=14nr = 4 + 42 + 43 + 44 Here, a = 4 and r = 4 and n = 4. Hence

Sn=a(1rn)1r
= 414 x (1 - 44) = 43 x (-255) = 4 x 85 = 340

Arithmetic, Geometric & Exponential Patterns

You have actually been working with algebra since you were three and began to notice patterns (red dog, blue cat, red dog, blue cat). The patterns we are going to work with now are just a little more complex and may take more brain power. Patterns are the beginning of algebra. There are endless types of patterns and methods for solving patterns. You mostly have been working with simple arithmetic (patterns involving adding or subtracting a number each time) or geometric patterns (ones involving multiplying or dividing by a number). Here are three common types of patterns you may have seen. Type Arithmetic Example 1,3,5,7,9... Solution Add 2 each time.

99,90,81,72... Subtract 9 each time Geometric 1,2,4,8,16... Multiply the previous number by 2.

1000,100,10, Divide the previous number 1... by 10. Geometric Exponential 2,4,16,256... Square the previous number.

1,4,9,16,25... 12,22,32,42,52...