11.5k views
1 vote
Ryan is building a matchstick sequence as shown below. how many matches will he use for the Nth figure if the pattern of adding one new square horizontally and one vertically continues?

Ryan is building a matchstick sequence as shown below. how many matches will he use-example-1

1 Answer

3 votes

The first figure of the sequence uses 13 matches. To add a new square both horizontally and vertically, Ryan uses 6 additional matches. Therefore, the Nth figure will have 13 matches plus the sum of 6 at the Nth term.

The first figure will have 13 matches, the second 13+6=19, the third 13+6+6 and so on. To represent it, let's say S is the number of matches of the Nth figure.

To make it easier, we can say the term 0 will have 13 - 6 = 7 matches. Then:


S=7+6N

User Anne Quinn
by
5.5k points