NUMBER PATTERNS

PART ONE
REVISION OF LINEAR NUMBER PATTERNS

In Grade 10 we dealt with linear number patterns

having a general term of the form 𝑇𝑛 = 𝑏𝑛 + 𝑐

Example 1

Consider the following linear number pattern:

2 ; 7 ; 12 ; 17 ; ………………….

(a) Determine the nth term and hence the 199th term.

(b) Which term of the number pattern is equal to 497?

Example 2

Consider the following linear number pattern:

3; 5; 7; 9 .......................
(a) Determine the nth term and hence the 180th term.
(b) Which term of the number pattern is equal to 241?

Example 3

Consider the following linear number pattern:

−2; 3; 8; 13; ...................... .
(a) Determine the nth term and hence the 259th term.
(b) Which term of the number pattern is equal to 753

Example 4

6. Consider the following linear number pattern:

112 ; 2; 212 ; 3 ;.......................
(a) Determine the nth term and hence the 130th term.
(b) Which term of the number pattern is equal to 41?
Quadratic Sequence
 Consider the pattern 2; 5; 10; 17; 26; ……… we can
investigate some interesting properties of this
number pattern.

 If we get the differences between the terms, it is

clear that this number pattern does not have a
constant first difference as with linear number
patterns.

 However, it does have a constant second

difference.

 Number patterns with constant second

differences are called quadratic number patterns.

A quadratic sequence is a sequence of numbers in

which the second difference between any two
consecutive terms is constant.
The general term for a quadratic sequence is:
𝑇𝑛 = 𝑎𝑛2 + 𝑏𝑛 + 𝑐
Finding The General Term of a Quadratic Sequence
The general term for a quadratic sequence is:
𝑻𝒏 = 𝒂𝒏𝟐 + 𝒃𝒏 + 𝒄

Notice that :
 The constant second difference is given by the expression
𝟐𝒂 .
 The first term in the first difference row is given by 𝟑𝒂 + 𝒃
 The first term is given by 𝒂 + 𝒃 + 𝒄
So, consider the previous number pattern:
Example 5
Consider the following number pattern: 6; 17; 34; 57; …………………….
(a) Show that it is a quadratic number pattern.
(b) Write down the next two terms of the number pattern.
(c) Hence determine the nth term as well as the 100th term.
(d) Determine which term equals 162
Example 6
Consider the sequence 8; 18; 30; 44……
a) Write down the next two terms of the sequence
b) Calculate the nth term of the sequence
c) Which term of the sequence is 330?
Example 7

6 ; 15 ; 𝑥; 45 ; .......... is a quadratic number pattern (sequence).

Determine the value of 𝑥
PAST EXAM
PRACTISE
QUESTIONS
2023 KwaZulu Natal November Paper 1 Q 3

3.1 Consider the following linear number pattern:

3𝑥 + 8 ; 𝑥 − 2;…….; −141; −145
3.1 Is the above linear number pattern finite or infinite? (1)
3.2 Show that 𝑥 = −3. (2)
3.3 Determine Tn , the general term of this number pattern
in the form Tn = bn + c (3)
3.4 Calculate the value of T15, the 15th term of this
number pattern. (2)
3.5 How many terms are in this number pattern? (2)
2017 November Paper 1 Q 3

3.1 Given the finite linear pattern: 12 ; 17; 22…….172

3.1.1 Determine a formula for the nth term of the
pattern (2)
3.1.2 Calculate the value of T12 . (2)
3.1.3 Determine the number of terms in the pattern (2)
3.3 Given the first four terms of a linear pattern:
3; 𝑥; 𝑦; 30
Calculate the values of 𝑥 and 𝑦 (4)
2017 November Paper 1 Q 4

Given the quadratic pattern: 244 ; 193 ; 148 ; 109 …

4.1 Write down the next term of the pattern. (2)
4.2 Determine a formula for the nth term of the pattern (4)
4.3 Which term of the pattern will have a value of 508? (4)
4.4 Between which TWO consecutive terms of the quadratic
pattern will be the first difference be 453? (3)
4.5 Show that all terms of the quadratic pattern are positive (4)
2017 March Paper 1 Q 3.1 – Q 3.1.3
3.1 6 ; 6 ; 9 ; 15 … are the first four terms of a quadratic
number pattern.
3.1.1. Write down the value of the fifth term (𝑇5 ) of the
pattern. (1)
3.1.2 Determine a formula to represent the general term of
the pattern. (4)
3.1.3 Which term has a value of 3 249? (4)
2015 Eastern Cape November Paper 1 Q 4

The first term of a linear number pattern is and the constant

difference is 92 and the constant difference is −4
4.1 Write down the values of the second and third terms
of the number pattern. (1)
4.2 Determine an expression for the 𝑛th term of the number
pattern. (2)
4.3 Determine the value of the eighteenth term. (2)
4.4 If 𝑇𝑝 + 𝑇𝑞 = 0 , determine the value of (𝑝 + 𝑞) (2)
2018 Eastern Cape Preliminary Paper 1 Q 3
A quadratic number pattern, 𝑇𝑛 = 𝑎𝑛2 + 𝑏𝑛 + 𝑐 has the
following information: 𝑇1 = 𝑇5 = 24 and it has a constant
second difference of 4.Determine the equation of the general
term of the quadratic pattern. (8)
2021 Gauteng November Paper 1 Q 4

The first four terms of a quadratic number pattern are:

−1; 𝑥; 3; 𝑥 + 8
4.1 Calculate the value(s) of 𝑥 . (4)
4.2 Show that the 𝑛𝑡ℎ term of the pattern
can be written as 𝑇𝑛 = (𝑛 − 1)2 −1 (6)
4.3 Calculate the value of the 65th term of the
pattern. (2)
4.4 What is the value of the FIRST term of the
pattern that is greater than 9 800? (4)
2023 KwaZulu November Paper 1 Q 4

Given a quadratic sequence: 3; 17; 35; 57

4.1 Write down the next two terms of the sequence (2)
4.2 Determine the general term of the sequence in
form 𝑇𝑛 = 𝑎𝑛2 + 𝑏𝑛 + 𝑐 (4)
4.3 Which term in the sequence is the second term
greater than 826? (4)
4.4 Which TWO consecutive terms in the quadratic
sequence have a first difference of 122? (4)
4.5 The given quadratic sequence is multiplied by
a constant to obtain a new quadratic sequence:
−6; 8𝑝 − 2; −70; 18𝑞….
Write down the value of 𝑝 and 𝑞 (2)
2018 March Paper 1 Q 3.4
A quadratic sequence, with general term 𝑇𝑛 , has the following
properties:
 𝑇11 = 125
 𝑇𝑛 − 𝑇𝑛−1 = 3𝑛 − 4
Determine the first term of the sequence. (6)
2019 Eastern Cape November Paper 1 Q 3

3.1 Given the sequence: 10 ; 7 ; 4 ; 1 ; …

3.1.1 Write down the next two terms of the sequence. (2)
3.1.2 Determine the formula for the nth term of the sequence. (2)
3.1.3 Which term of the sequence is equal to −179? (3)
3.2 Given the first three terms of a linear sequence:
3𝑥 − 2; 𝑥 + 9; 2𝑥 + 5
Determine the value of 𝑥 . (3)
2019 Eastern Cape November Paper 1 Q 4

Given the quadratic pattern: −128 ; −84; −48; −20

4.1 Determine the next two terms of the pattern. (2)
4.2 Determine , the general term of the pattern, in the form
𝑇𝑛 = 𝑎𝑛2 + 𝑏𝑛 + 𝑐 (4)
4.3 Given that 𝑇𝑛 = −4𝑛2 + 56𝑛 − 180 determine
the biggest numerical value for 𝑇𝑛 (5)
4.4 Given that ℎ 𝑛 = 𝑇𝑛 + 𝑘. For which values of 𝑘 will not
have any positive values? . (2)
2022 KwaZulu Natal March Paper Q 1
Given the quadratic sequence: 5; 𝑥; 𝑦; 29; …. and
its second constant difference is equal to 4.
1.1 Calculate the values of 𝑥 and 𝑦 (4)
1.2 If 𝑥 = 9 and 𝑦 = 17, determine the 𝑛𝑡ℎ term
of the quadratic sequence. (4)
Calculate the 50𝑡ℎ term of the sequence. (2)