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2014-10-31 Polygonal Numbers, Solution

This document discusses polygonal numbers, which are figures made up of dots arranged in regular polygons. It provides examples of triangular numbers (3 sides), square numbers (4 sides) and pentagonal numbers (5 sides). For each polygonal number, it explains that the sequence being added is arithmetic and provides the formula for the nth term in the sequence. It asks the reader to determine the formula for an arbitrary p-sided polygon and check their work.

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10K views2 pages

2014-10-31 Polygonal Numbers, Solution

This document discusses polygonal numbers, which are figures made up of dots arranged in regular polygons. It provides examples of triangular numbers (3 sides), square numbers (4 sides) and pentagonal numbers (5 sides). For each polygonal number, it explains that the sequence being added is arithmetic and provides the formula for the nth term in the sequence. It asks the reader to determine the formula for an arbitrary p-sided polygon and check their work.

Uploaded by

samjshah
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1

NAME DATE BAND


POLYGONAL NUMBERS -- SOLUTION
ADV PRECALCULUS | PACKER COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE

First Figure
1 n
Second Figure
2 n
Third Figure
3 n
Fourth Figure
4 n
n th Figure
n n
Triangular
Numbers:
3 p
1 3 6 10
1 1+2 1+2+3 1+2+3+4

The sequence of numbers we are adding is 1, 2, 3, 4,
This sequence is arithmetic.
A formula for the nth term in this sequence is:

The number of dots in the nth figure is:


Square
Numbers:
4 p
1 4 9 16
1 1+3 1+3+5 1+3+5+7

The sequence of the numbers we are adding is 1, 3, 5, 7,
This sequence is arithmetic.
A formula for the nth term in this sequence is:

The number of dots in the nth figure is:


Pentagonal
Numbers:
5 p
1 5 12 22
1 1+4 1+4+7 1+4+7+10

The sequence of the numbers we are adding is 1, 4, 7, 10,
This sequence is arithmetic.
A formula for the nth term in this sequence is:

The number of dots in the nth figure is:




2
p -gon
Numbers

1
1

The sequence of the numbers we are adding is: __________________________
This sequence is arithmetic.
A formula for the nth term in this sequence is:

The number of dots in the nth figure is:



Check if your formula is right! If 76 p and 9 n , you should end up with 2673 dots. If your formula is close but not
quite right, think things through again!

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