Question

A marching band begins its performance

in a pyramid formation. The first row has 1 band member,
the second row has 3 band members, the third row has
5 band members, and so on. (Examples 1 and 2)
a. Find the number of band members in the 8th row.

Answer 1

15 members in the 8th row

Explanation:

To find the number of band members in the 8th row of the pyramid formation, we can observe that the number of band members in each row follows an arithmetic sequence where the common difference is 2.

To find the number of band members in the 8th row, we can use the formula for the nth term of an arithmetic sequence:

nth term = first term + (n - 1) * common difference

In this case, the first term is 1 (the number of band members in the first row), the common difference is 2, and we want to find the 8th term.

Plugging the values into the formula:

8th term = 1 + (8 - 1) * 2

Calculating:

8th term = 1 + 7 * 2

8th term = 1 + 14

8th term = 15