 |
||||||||||
Doing Mathematics: Playing With a Simple Pattern
The above statement is very obvious if one understands how addition and multiplication work conceptually (or even visually). But, what if you push this statement a little bit. Is there a number n that you can add to 3 and multiply by 3 to get the same result?
Now, continue exploring this question and others such as: 4 + n = 4 * n 5 + n = 5 * n 6 + n = 6 * n 7 + n = 7 * n ........ Finally, what happens if you consider the complementary pattern of 2 - n = 2 / n...and again, try numbers other than 2?
Hint: You should see a pattern...for 2 we see n is 2, for 3 we see n is 3/2, for 4 we see n is 4/3...
Solution Commentary: Can you justify the observed pattern:
|
