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Pascal's Triangle
A really interesting Number
1
Patterns is Pascal's Triangle
(named after Blaise Pascal, a
1 1
famous French Mathematician
and Philosopher). 1 2 1

To build the triangle, start 1 3 3 1

with "1" at the top, then
1 4 6 4 1
continue placing numbers
below it in a triangular
pattern.

Each number is the

numbers directly above it
added together.

(Here I have highlighted that 1+3 = 4)

Patterns Within the Triangle

Ones
Counting Numbers
Pascal'sTriangular
Triangle
1 Numbers
1 1

1 2 1

1 3 3 1

1 4 6 4 1

1 5 10 10 5 1

1 6 15 20 15 6 1

1 7 21 35 35 21 7 1

Diagonals

The first diagonal is, of course, just "1"s

The next diagonal has the Counting Numbers (1,2,3, etc).

The third diagonal has the triangular numbers

(The fourth diagonal, not highlighted, has the

tetrahedral numbers .)

Symmetrical

The triangle is also symmetrical . The

numbers on the left side have identical
matching numbers on the right side,
like a mirror image.

1 1
1 1 2
1 2 1 4
1 3 3 1 8
1 4 6 4 1 16
1 5 10 10 5 1 32
1 6 15 20 15 6 1 64
1 7 21 35 35 21 7 1 128
1 8 28 56 70 56 28 8 1 256
Horizontal Sums

What do you notice about the horizontal sums?

Is there a pattern?

They double each time ( powers of 2).

(Why? Because each number in the current row is used

twice to make the next row.)

11 0 = 1 1
11 1 = 11 1 1
11 2 = 121 1 2 1
11 3 = 1331 1 3 3 1
11 4 = 14641 1 4 6 4 1
11 5 = 161051 1 5 10 10 5 1
11 6 = 1771561 1 6 15 20 15 6 1

Exponents of 11

Each line is also the powers ( exponents ) of 11:

110=1 (the first line is just a "1")

111=11 (the second line is "1" and "1")

112=121 (the third line is "1", "2", "1")

etc!

But what happens with 115 ? Simple! The digits just

overlap, like this:

1 51010 5 1

161051
The same thing happens with 116 etc.

1 Squares
1 1
1 2 1
42= 6 + 10
1 3 3 1
1 4 6 4 1
1 5 10 10 5 1
1 6 15 20 15 6 1

For the second diagonal, the square of a number is equal to

the sum of the numbers next to it and below both of those.

Examples:

32 = 3 + 6 = 9,

42 = 6 + 10 = 16,

52 = 10 + 15 = 25,
...

There is a good reason, too ... can you think of it? (Hint:
42=6+10, 6=3+2+1, and 10=4+3+2+1)

1 1
1 1 1 1

2 1+1 2 1

3 1+2 3 3 1
5 1+3+1 1 4 6 4 1

8 1+4+31 1 5 10 10 5 1

13 1+5+6+1 1 6 15 20 15 6 1

21 1+6+10+4 1 7 21 35 35 21 7 1

Fibonacci Sequence

Try this: make a pattern by going up and then along, then

add up the values (as illustrated) ... you will get the
Fibonacci Sequence .

(The Fibonacci Sequence starts "0, 1" and then continues

by adding the two previous numbers, for example 3+5=8,
then 5+8=13, etc)

Odds and Evens

If we color the Odd and Even

numbers, we end up with a
pattern the same as the
Sierpinski Triangle

Paths

Each entry is also the number of different paths from the

top down.

Example: there is only one path from the top down to any
"1"

1 1

1 2 1

1 3 3 1

And we can see there are 2 different paths to the "2"

1 1

1 2 1

1 3 3 1

It is the same going upwards, there are 3 different paths

from 3:

1 1

1 2 1

1 3 3 1

Your turn, see if you can find all the paths down to the "6":

1 1

1 2 1

1 3 3 1

1 4 6 4 1

Using Pascal's Triangle

Heads and Tails

Pascal's Triangle shows us how many ways heads and tails

can combine. This can then show us the probability of any
combination.

For example, if you toss a coin three times, there is only

one combination that will give three heads (HHH), but there
are three that will give two heads and one tail (HHT, HTH,
THH), also three that give one head and two tails (HTT, THT,
TTH) and one for all Tails (TTT). This is the pattern "1,3,3,1"
in Pascal's Triangle.

Pascal's
Tosses Possible Results (Grouped)
Triangle

H
1 1, 1
T

HH
2 HT TH 1, 2, 1
TT

HHH
HHT, HTH, THH
3 1, 3, 3, 1
HTT, THT, TTH
TTT

HHHH
HHHT, HHTH, HTHH, THHH
HHTT, HTHT, HTTH, THHT, THTH,
4 1, 4, 6, 4, 1
TTHH
HTTT, THTT, TTHT, TTTH
TTTT

... etc ...

Example: What is the probability of getting

exactly two heads with 4 coin tosses?

There are 1+4+6+4+1 = 16 (or 24=16) possible

results, and 6 of them give exactly two heads. So the
probability is 6/16, or 37.5%

Combinations

The triangle also shows us how many Combinations of

objects are possible.

Example: You have 16 pool balls. How many

different ways can you choose just 3 of them
(ignoring the order that you select them)?

Answer: go down to the start of row 16 (the top row

is 0), and then along 3 places (the first place is 0)
and the value there is your answer, 560.

Here is an extract at row 16:

1 14 91 364 ... 1 15 105 455

A Formula for Any Entry in The Triangle

In fact there is a formula from Combinations for working

out the value at any place in Pascal's triangle:

n!
It is commonly called "n choose k" and k!(n−k)!
written like this:
=
n
k ( )
Notation: "n choose k" can also be written C(n,k), nCk or
nCk.

!
The "!" is " factorial " and means to multiply a
series of descending natural numbers. Examples:

4! = 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 24

7! = 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 5040

1! = 1

() 0
0
() 1
0 () 1
1
() 2
0 () 2
1 () 2
2
() 3
0 () 3
1 () 3
2 () 3
3

() 4
0 ( 41) ( 42) ( 43) ( 44)
So Pascal's Triangle could also be
an "n choose k" triangle like this one.

(Note that the top row is row zero

and also the leftmost column is zero)

Example: Row 4, term 2 in Pascal's Triangle is

"6" ...

... let's see if the formula works:

( ) 4
2
=
4!
2!(4−2)!
=
4!
2!2!
=
4×3×2×1
2×1×2×1
=6

Yes, it works! Try another value for yourself.

This can be very useful ... we can now find any value in
Pascal's Triangle directly (without calculating the whole
triangle above it).

Polynomials

Pascal's Triangle also shows us the coefficients in

binomial expansion :

Pascal's
Power Binomial Expansion
Triangle

2 (x + 1)2 = 1x2 + 2x + 1 1, 2, 1

3 (x + 1)3 = 1x3 + 3x2 + 3x + 1 1, 3, 3, 1

(x + 1)4 = 1x4 + 4x3 + 6x2 +

4 1, 4, 6, 4, 1
4x + 1

... etc ...

The First 15 Lines

For reference, I have included row 0 to 14 of Pascal's
Triangle

1
1 1
1 2 1
1 3 3 1
1 4 6 4 1
1 5 10 10 5 1
1 6 15 20 15 6 1
1 7 21 35 35 21 7 1
1 8 28 56 70 56 28 8 1
1 9 36 84 126 126 84 36 9
1
1 10 45 120 210 252 210 120 45
10 1
1 11 55 165 330 462 462 330 165
55 11 1
1 12 66 220 495 792 924 792 495
220 66 12 1
1 13 78 286 715 1287 1716 1716 1287
715 286 78 13 1
1 14 91 364 1001 2002 3003 3432 3003
2002 1001 364 91 14 1

The Chinese Knew

About It
This drawing is entitled "The Old
Method Chart of the Seven
Multiplying Squares".
View Full Image

It is from the front of Chu Shi-Chieh's book "Ssu Yuan Yü

Chien" (Precious Mirror of the Four Elements), written in AD
1303 (over 700 years ago, and more than 300 years before
Pascal!), and in the book it says the triangle was known
about more than two centuries before that.

The Quincunx
An amazing little machine created by
Sir Francis Galton is a Pascal's
Triangle made out of pegs. It is called
The Quincunx .

Balls are dropped onto the first peg

and then bounce down to the bottom
of the triangle where they collect in
little bins.

At first it looks completely random

(and it is), but then we find the balls
pile up in a nice pattern: the
Normal Distribution.

Mathopolis: Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5
Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10 Q11

Activity: Subsets

Triangular Number Sequence

Tetrahedral Number Sequence
Sierpinski Triangle
The Quincunx
Combinations and Permutations

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