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Topics-23 :Problem-Solving and patterns

6. (a) The first five terms of a sequence are
Paper - 1 1, 3, 6, 10, 15.
1. (a) The nth term of a sequence is 7 – 2n. Write 1
The nth term of this sequence is n(n + 1).
down the 23rd term in this sequence. [1] 2
(b) (i) The first five terms of another sequence are Find the 19th term. [1]
(b) Write down an expression, in terms of n, for the
4 7 10 13 16.
nth term of the sequence
Write down an expression, in terms of n, for the nth 3, 6, 10, 15, 21, ……….. [1]
term of this sequence. [1] 7. By considering the number patterns. Complete lines
(ii) The first five terms of another sequence are (a). (b) and (c) in the table.
3 – 16 = 1  5  (3
4 2
4 7 10 13 16 + 4)
.
4 – 16 = 2  6  (4
4 2
1 4 9 16 25 + 4)
5 – 16 = 3  7  (5
4 2
(a) Write down the next term in this sequence. [1] + 4)
4
(b) Write down an expression, in terms of n, for the (a) 6 – 16 = [1]
nth term of this sequence. [1] 
= 6  10  (8
2. The sequence of numbers 2
(b) + 4) [1]
1, 5, 11, 19, 29, ………… 
can also be expressed in the form 4
(c) n – 16 = [1]
2 2 2 2
1 + 0, 2 + 1, 3 + 2, 4 + 3, ………… (d) Use your answer to part (c) and the information
(a) Express the 5th term in the same form. [1] given below to find the three prime factors of 50
(b) Write down , in terms of n, a formula for the nth 609.
term. [1] 2 4
[15 = 225, 15 = 50 625.] [2]
(c) Calculate the value of the 100th term of the
sequence. [1] 8. A series of diagrams, using three types of triangle,
3. It is given that N = 87  132. is shown below.
(a) Complete the statements. The triangles are grey, white or black.
88  132 = N + …………… [1]
87  131 = N - ……………. [1]
(b) Hence evaluate 88  132 – 87  131. [1]
4. (a) Write down the next two terms in the sequence

12, 11, 9, 6, ………. [1]

The table below shows the numbers of each type of
(b) Write down an expression, in terms of n, for the triangle used in the diagrams.
nth term in the sequence
4, 9, 16, 25, ………. [1] Diagram 1 2 3 4 n
Grey triangles 2 4 6 x
5. Consider the sequence 13 – 2. 23 – 4. 33 – 6,
White triangles 1 4 9 y
43 – 8, ………….... Black triangles 0 2 6 z
(a) Write down the 5th term of the sequence. [1]
(b) Write down, in terms of n, an expression for the (a) Complete the column for Diagram 4. [1]
nth term of the sequence. [1]
(c) Evaluate the 10th term of the sequence. [1]
(b) By considering the number patterns in the table. 1
1+2+3+4+…+n  n (n  1)
2
find, in terms of n, expressions for x, y and z. [4]
12. The first term of a sequence is 13.
9. The numbers 1 to 64 are arranged in a grid as The following terms are found by alternately adding 4
shown. A rhombus is placed in various positions on and 6 to the previous term.The first six terms are
13 17 23 27 33 37
the grid to enclose five of the numbers.
(a) Write down the next two terms of the sequence.[1]
Two possible positions of the rhombus are shown.
(b) Write down the value of the term that is closest to
999. [1]
(c) Write down the difference between the values of
the 91st and 93rd terms. [1]
(d) Find the 80th term. [1]
(e) The nth term is 203.
Find n. [1]

13. (a) The nth term of a sequence is given by

n 2  5n .
(i) Find the 2nd term in the sequence. [1]
(ii) The pth term in the sequence is 150.
Find the value of p. [2]
(a) The rhombus is placed so that the number at the (b) The nth term of another sequence is given by
top is 13. Find the sum of the five numbers in the 3n 2  kn.
rhombus. [1] The 5th term in this sequence is 55.
(b) Given that the number at the top of the rhombus is Find the value of k. [2]
x, 14. The sequence of diagrams shows patterns made
(i) Write down an expression, in terms of x, for the from some black beads and some white beads.
Each diagram has two rows more than the previous
number at the bottom, [1]
diagram.
(c) The rhombus is placed in a position such that the
sum of the five numbers is 215.
(i) Use your answer to part (b) (ii) to write down an
equation in x. [1]
(ii) By solving this equation, or otherwise, find the

number at the bottom of the rhombus. [1]

10. The first four terms of a sequence are 55, 53, 49,

41. The nth term of this sequence is 57  2n.

(a) Calculate the fifth term. [1]
(b) Write down the nth term of the sequence (b) Write down an expression, in terms of n, for
(i) the number of white beads in Diagram n, [1]
56, 55, 52, 45 … . [1] (ii) the total number of beads in Diagram n. [1]
(c) Find an expression, in terms of n, for the number of
11. The first four lines of a pattern of numbers are black beads in Diagram n.
shown below. Give your answer in its simplest form. [2]
15. (a) Here are the first four terms of a sequence.
1st line 3 2 − 12 = 8 × 1 7 11 15 19
2nd line 52 − 12 = 8 × (1 + 2) Write down an expression, in terms of n, for the nth
term of this sequence. [1]
3rd line 72 − 12 = 8 × (1 + 2 + 3) (b) unis the nth term of another sequence.
4th line 92 − 12 = 8 × (1 + 2 + 3 + 4) Here is the formula connecting the nth and (n + 1)th
terms of this sequence.
(a) Write down the 7th line of the pattern. 3un -4 =un +1
(b) Write down an expression, in terms of n, to The value of U2 is 11.
Find U2 and U4. [2]
complete the nth line of the pattern. 16. The first four terms, u1 , u 2 , u3 and u4 , in a
(c) Using the nth line of the pattern, show that sequence of numbers are given below.
u1  1 3  2 2  7
 u 2  2  4  32  17 1 2 3 4 5 ……… n
u 3  3  5  4 2  31 5 8 11 14 p ……… x
4 9 16 25 q ……… y
u 4  4  6  52  49
1 8 27 64 r ……… z
(a) Evaluate u 5 . [1] 10 25 54 103 s ……… t
(a) Study the patterns and write down the value of p,
(b) The nth term of the sequence, u n , is of the form
the value of q, the value of r and the value of s.[4]
nn  p  (n  q) 2 . (b) Find expressions, in terms of n, for each of x, y, z
Write down the value of p and the value of q. [1] 3
(c) u n can also be written in the form An 2  Bn  c. 3. (c) The n th term of a sequence, S. is a n + 2. The
first four terms are 3, 10, 29 and 66.
Find the values of A, B and C. [2]
(i) Find the fifth term of S. [1]
17. Here are the first five terms of a sequence.
(ii) the first four terms of another sequence. T, are 4,
3 7 11 15 19
12, 32 and 70.
4 8 12 16 20 By comparing S and T, write down
(a) Write down the next two terms. [1]
(a) the fifth term of T, [1]
1199
(b) The kth term is . Find K [1] (b) an expression, in terms of n, for the nth term of T.
1200 [1]
(c) Find an expression, in terms of n, for the nth term.
(d) On Monday, two girls, Jane and Susan, collected
[2]
some seashells.
Paper - 2 Jane collected x shells and Susan collected 22 more
1. than Jane. On Tuesday, Susan gave 60 of her shells to
Jane. The table shows the numbers of shells each girl
had on the two days.
Jane Susan
Monday x x + 22
Tuesday x + 60 y
(i) Write down an expression for y in terms of x.[1]
(ii) Given that, on Tuesday, Jane had three times as
many shells as Susan,
(a) write down and solve an equation in x, [2]
(b) find total number of shells the girls collected.[1]
The natural numbers 1, 2, 3, ….. are written, in a
4. The terms T 1 , T 2 , T 3 , T 4 , T 5 of a sequence are
clockwise direction, on a circular grid as shown in the
given as follows:
diagram. There are four numbers in each ring. The
T1 = 1 = 1
numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 are in the first ring. The
numbers 5, 6, 7 and 8 are in the second ring. The T2 =3=1+2
following numbers fill up the other rings in the same T3 = 6 = 1 + 2 + 3
way.
T 4 = 10 = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4
(a) Write down the numbers in the fourth ring. [1]
T 5 = 15 = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5
(b) Write down the largest number in the tenth ring.
[1] (a) (i) Write down the next two terms, T 6 and T 7 , in
(c) The sum, S, of the four numbers in the nth ring, the sequence 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, ………. [1]
where, where n = 1, 2 and 3, is given in the table (ii) The nth term in the sequence is given by

n n  1 . Show that this formula is true

below. 1
Tn =
n 1 2 3 4 2
sn 10 26 42 when n = 7. [1]
(i) Write down the value of S 4 . [1] (iii) Use the formula to find T100 . [1]
(ii) Find, in its simplest form, an expression, in terms (iv) Use your answer to part (iii) to find
of r, for S r . [2] 5 + 10 + 15 + ……… + 500. [1]
(v) Hence find the sum of all the whole numbers from
(iii) In which ring is the sum of the four numbers
1 to 500 which are not multiples of 5. [2]
equal to 1018? [1] (b) The terms S 1 , S 2 , S 3 , S 4 , S 5 of a different
2. Part of a pattern of numbers is shown in the table sequence are given as follows:
below.
 S1 = 1 =1  1 (ii) w n is the nth term of another sequence that is

S2 = 4 = 1  2 + 2 1 obtained by multiplying u n by v n .

S 3 = 10 = 1  3 + 2  2+ 3  1 Given that w n = 17 + kn – 6n2, find k. [1]

7. Small triangles are formed by placing rods between
S 4 = 20 = 1  4 + 2  3 + 3  2 + 4  1
dots as shown in the diagrams.
S 5 = 35 = 1  5 + 2  4 + 3  3 + 4  2 + 5  1
(i) Find S 6 and S 7 . [2]
(ii) The nth term in this sequence is given by
1
Sn = n (n 1)( n  2).
6
Show that this formula is true when n = 7. [1] (a) Complete the table.
(iii) find 1  20 + 2  19 + 3  18 + …+ 20  1.[1] Diagram n 1 2 3 4 5
Number of small triangles 1 4 9 16
5. The number of diagonal (d) that can be drawn in (T )
polygons with a given number of sides (n) is being Number of dots (D) 3 6 10 15
Number of rods (R) 3 9 18 30
investigated. [2]
(b) Find an expression, in terms of n, for the number of small
triangles (T ) formed in Diagram n.
(c) Given that R = D + T – 1, find the value of n when
D = 561 and R = 1584.
(d) 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, ....

The nth term of the above sequence is nn  1. Hence find
1
2
an expression for R in terms of n.
(e) How many rods are there in Diagram 15?
Number of sides (n) 3 4 5 6 7 8 (f) Find an expression for D in terms of n.
Number of diagonals (d) 0 2 5 9 p q 8.
The diagrams and the table show the number of
diagonals that can be drawn in a triangle, a
quadrilateral, a pentagon and a hexagon.
(a) By drawing all the possible diagonals, or by
considering the number patterns, find the values of p
and q in the table. [2]
2
(b) It is known that the formula d = An + Bn. gives
(a) Complete the diagram for pattern 4. [1]
the number of diagonals that can be drawn in a
The table below shows some of the information for the
polygon with n sides.
number of tiles in pattern n.
(i) By considering the number of diagonals in a
triangle and a quadrilateral show that
0 = 3A + B and
1 = 8A + 2B. [1]
(ii) solve these simultaneous equations to find the
value of A and the value of B. [3] (b) Complete the table. [2]
(iii) Hence find the number of diagonals in a polygon (c) Find an expression, in terms of n, for the number of
with 20 sides. [2] grey tiles in pattern n. [2]
6. u n is the nth term of the sequence 4, 7, 10, 13, (d) Pattern x has 110 grey tiles.
……. Find x. [1]
(a) (i) Write down an expression in terms of n, for u n . (e) By considering the number of tiles along the outer
[1] edges of each pattern,
(ii) Hence find the 20th terms of the sequence. [1] show that the total number of tiles in pattern n is
(b) v n is the nth term of the sequence 4n 2 + 10n + 6 . [2]
15, 13, 11, 9, ……… (f) Hence find an expression, in terms of n, for the
(i) Write down an expression, in terms of n, for v n . [1] number of white tiles in pattern n. [1]
(g) In pattern p, the total number of tiles is equal to 8 7. (d) 13, 17 and 229; 8. (a) 8, 16, 12, (b) x = 2n,
times the number of grey tiles.
y = n2, z = n2 – n
Find p. [3]
9. (a) 1, 7, 13, 19, 25, … 9. (a) 105, (b) (i) x + 16, (ii) 5x + 40,
(i) Find an expression, in terms of n, for the nth term
of this sequence. [2] (c) (i) 215, (ii) 51 ; 10. (a) 25, (b) 57 + n - 2 n ’ 11. (a)
(ii) Explain why 251 is not a term in this sequence. [1]
(b) Here is another sequence.
152 - 12 = 8  (1+2+3+4+5+6+7) ; (b) (2n +1)2 - 12 ;
5, 8, 13, 20, 29, …
The pth term of this sequence is p 2  4. 12. (a)43 47, (b) 997, (c) -10, (d) 407, (e) 39;
Write down an expression, in terms of p, for the pth
term of these sequences. 13. [(a) (i) -6, (ii) 15, (b) 4 ]
(i) –2, 1, 6, 13, 22, … [1] 14. (a) 49, 19, 30, (b) (i) 3n+4,
(ii) 7, 12, 19, 28, 39, … [1] (ii) (n  2) 2 , (c) n 2  n;
(c) The diagrams below show the first three patterns in
15. (a) 4n+3, (b) 5 and 29; 16. (a) 71, (b) p=2,q=1, (c)
a sequence.
A=2, B=4, C=1;
The patterns are made from short diagonal lines.
23 27 4n  1
17. (a) , ; (b) 300, (c) ;
24 28 4n

Paper - 2

1. (a) 13, 14, 15, 16, (b) 40, (c) (i) 58,
(i) Draw Pattern 4 on the dotty grid below.
(ii) 16r – 6, (iii) 64th;
2. (a) p = 17, q = 36, r = 125, s = 178,
(b) x = 3n + 2, y = (n + 1)2, z = n3
t = n 3 + n2 + 5n + 3;
3. (c) (i) 127, (ii) 132, (b) T n = n3 + n + 2,
(d) (i) y = x – 38, (ii) (a) 87, (b) 196;
4. (a) (i) 21, 28, (iii) T100 = 5050, (iv) 25250,
[1]
(v) 1 00 000, (b) (i) 56, 84, (iii) 1540;
(ii) Complete the table below for the number of short
lines in Patterns 4 and 5. 5. (a) 14, 20, (b) (ii) B = –1.5, (iii) 170
6. (a) (i) 3n + 1, (ii) 61; (b) (i) 17 – 2n, (ii) 49
3
7. (a) 25, 21, 45; (b) n2 ; (c) 32; (d) n(n  1) ; (e)
2
1
[2] 360 ; (f) (n  1)( n  2);
(iii) Find an expression, in terms of t, for the number 2
of short lines in Pattern t. [2] 8. (b) 22, 26 and 88, 130; (c) 4n+6, (d) 26, (f)
4n 2  6n, (7); 9. (a) (i) 6n-5, (b) (i) p  3,
2

Answer: (ii) p 2  2 p  4, (c) (ii) 28, 40, (iii) t 2  3t ;

Paper - 1
19 3n  1
1.(a) –39, (b) (i) 3n + 1, (ii) (a) , (b)Tn = ;
36 n2

2. (a) 52  4 , (b) n 2  n 1 , (c) 10099, 3. (a) N + 132,

N – 87, (b) 2/9; 4. (a) 2, – 3, (b) (n + 1)2 ; 5. (a) 115,

(n 1) (n  2)
(b) n3 – 2n, (c) 19 80; 6. (a) 190, (b) ;
2