Mathematics as a

Science of Patterns
The characterization of mathematics as the “study of patterns” had
been first made by British Mathematician, G.H. Hardy.

In his book, he said that “A mathematician, like a painter or a poet, is a

master of patterns. If his patterns are more permanent than theirs, it is
because they are made with ideas.”
A pattern is a visible regularity in the world or in a man-made design. As such, the
elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner.

Patterns, in a mathematical sense, refer to the study of “tilings” “and wall-paper

asymmetries.” This connotes order, regularity, and lawfulness.

In the modern world, the patterns of counting, measuring, reasoning, motion, shape,
position, and prediction, reveal the powerful influence mathematics has over people’s
perception of reality.
 Tilings

Wallpaper asymmetries
Pattern recognition is a key determinant of logical, verbal,
numerical, and spatial abilities.

Look at some of the most commonly used patterns today: the

logic patterns, symbol patterns, number patterns, and word
patterns.
Logic Patterns

One kind of logic pattern deals with the characteristics of various

objects. Another kind deals with order. Some patterns appear in a
sequence while some possess similar attributes. These types of patterns
are common in aptitude tests.

To construct or solve a pattern, find the rule for the pattern, understand
the nature of the sequence, and analyze the difference between the two
successive terms.
Example 1

Look carefully at the

sequence of symbols or
figures to find the
pattern. What should be
the figure in this
sequence?
Answer

In this question, the first figure has 4 squares. The lines in the first square are slanting
to the left. The square below it has horizontal lines. The third square has lines slanting
to the right and the fourth square has vertical lines. In the second set of squares, the
top square has vertical lines. This was the last square on the first set of squares. In the
third set of squares, the top square has lines slanting to the right and this is the last
square in the second set of squares. So, the next set of squares must have a square on
top with horizontal lines, followed by a square with lines slanting to the right, followed
by a square with vertical lines, and the last square with lines slanting to the left.

Hence, the answer is B.

Example 2

What will be the next

figure in this sequence?
Answer

Notice that the first figure in the sequence is a single circle. The second figure
has two circles. The third figure has four circles. What must be next? The
answer is D. Can you tell why?

Notice that the second figure is just a double of the first figure, so it has two
circles. The third figure is the double of the second figure, thus it has four
circles. The fourth figure must be the double of the third figure and so it
should have eight circles.
Example 3

Which figure can be used

to continue the series?
Answer

In this sequence, look at the movement of the arrows inside the

triangles. The arrow starts from a vertex and the arrowhead points
towards the opposite side.

So, the missing figure should be B.

Example 4

If the word MODERN can be encrypted as OQFGTP, how can

you code the word WORLD?

a. YQSNF c. YQUNF

b.YQTNF d. YQPNF
Answer

The correct answer is B.

Each letter in the original word MODERN is forwarded two

places (+2) in the alphabetical order to get the encrypted
word.
Example 5

In a certain code language, the word PATTERNS can be

written TRTRTRTR. How would you write ALGEBRA in the
same code language?

a. RGGRRRG c. GRRGGR
b.GRGRGRG d. RRGGRR
Answer

The correct answer is B.

Each letter in the third, sixth, ninth, etc. (multiples of 3)

positions is reported according to the length of the given
word.
Example 6

Which figure is next in the

sequence?
Answer

Notice that box 3 has 3 circles which is the sum of the number
of circles in box 1 and box 2. Then, the number of circles in
box 4 is the sum of the number of circles in box 1, box 2, and
box 3.

Hence, the next box must contain 12 circles, which is the sum
of the number of circles in box 1, box 2, box 3, and box 4.
Example 7

What figure should come

next in this sequence?
Answer

In this sequence, notice the movement of the triangle. It is

turning 45 degrees each time.

Hence, the correct figure is B.

Example 8

What figure should come

next in this sequence?
Answer

In this sequence, the next figure should be B. Can you tell

why?

Notice the movement of the arrow inside the pentagon.

Example 9

Can you tell the pattern in

this sequence?

The correct answer is A.

Why?
Example 10

Can you tell the pattern in

this sequence? What is the
correct answer?
Number Patterns

Mathematics is very useful in making predictions. Working

with number patterns leads directly to the concept of
functions in mathematics. Students must be able to recognize
number patterns to help them develop their problem-solving
skill.
Number Patterns PRIME 11 = 1 x 11
COMPOSITE 6 = 1 x 6
=2x3

The first step in determining the rule that defines the pattern
is to look for differences between two consecutive numbers.
The number pattern helps generalize of how the numbers
are arranged in a sequence. If there is no logic (addition,
subtraction, multiplication, division, squares, cubes, primes,
etc.) in the differences, find other operations used in the
pattern.
Number Patterns

If the numbers in a pattern change in the same way or in the same

value each time, then that type of pattern is called a repeating
pattern.

1 3 5 7 9
Example 11

What is the next number in the sequence:

2 4 2 4 2
11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 25?

Alternative answer is 29.

Answer

Notice that the numbers are all consecutive primes.

So, the next number must be 29.

Example 12

What is the next number in the pattern:

2 3 5 7 11
5, 7, 10, 15, 22 33?
Answer

The differences between each pair of consecutive terms in the sequence are as follows: 2, 3, 5,
7. These primes are added to the previous number to get the next number.

5 + 2 = 7,
7 + 3 = 10,
10 + 5 = 15,
15 + 7 = 22.

So, you know that the next prime is 11. Hence, the next number in the pattern is 22 + 11 = 33.
Example 13

What should be the next number in the blank?

100, 98, 96, 94 92

Answer

In this simple series, the difference between two consecutive

numbers is constant. There is a difference of −2 between
each number.

The missing number in this case is 92.

Example 14

Find the next number in the sequence:

1 2 3 4 5

12, 13, 15, 18, 22, 27

Answer

This is a more complex series. If you look at the given numbers, you will notice
that the differences between the numbers are not constant. They are dynamic
but there is still a clear logical rule.

The rule for this series is: Add 1 to the first number, then add 2 to the resulting
number, then add 3 to the resulting number, then add 4, and so on.

In this case, the missing number is 27.

Example 15

Find the next two numbers in the sequence:

12 22 32 42 52 62

1 4 9 16 25 36

5, 6, 10, 19, 35, __60_, 96___

Answer

The difference between 5 and 6 is 1.

The difference between 6 and 10 is 4.

The difference between 10 and 19 is 9.

The difference between 19 and 35 is 6.

These differences are squares of 1, 2, 3, and 4. So, the difference between 34 and the next
number should be the square of 5, which is 25.

Hence, the next missing number is 60, and the last number must be 96.
Example 16

Find the next two numbers in the number sequence:

6 6 6 6

14 20 26 32 38

13 27 47 73 105 143

7, 20, 47, 94, 167, 272 , 415__

Example 16

Find the next two numbers in the number sequence:

7, 20, 47, 94, 167, ___, ___

Answer

If you get the differences, you will get 13, 27, 47, and 73, which do not tell you anything.
They are not squares nor cubes of small numbers. Now, let us look the at cubes of 1, 2, 3, 4,
and 5.
13 = 1,
23 = 8,
33 = 27,

43 = 64,

53 = 125.
Answer

If you subtract the given numbers in These difference are simply the
the pattern and the cubes, you get product of
2 × 3 = 6,
7 20 47 94 167
1 8 27 64 125
3 × 4 = 12,
6 12 20 30 42 4 × 5 = 20
, 5 × 6 = 30,
•
6 × 7 = 42.
Answer

Adding these products to the cubes:

13 + 2 × 3 = 7;
23 + 3 × 4 = 20;
33 + 4 × 5 = 47;

43 + 5 × 6 = 94; and

53 + 6 × 7 = 167.

So, the next number in the pattern must be

62 + 7 × 8 = 216 + 56 = 272.
Example 17

Find the next number in the sequence:

3 -2 6 -2 18 -2

1, 4, 2, 8, 6, 24, 22 88
Answer

Noting the difference between two consecutive numbers in the

sequence, you will get 3, -2, 6, -2, 18, and -2. There is a common
difference of -2. If you multiply the first, third, fifth, and seventh numbers
by 4, you will get the next number:1 × 4 = 4, 2 × 4 = 8, 6 × 4 = 24.

Hence, the next number must be 22 × 4 = 88.

Example 18

Find the next number in the sequence:

1, 4, 11, 29, 76, 199 ___

Answer

This is an example of a number pattern where the logic can be found after some fixed
terms. The differences (3, 7, 18, 47, and 123) do not give you any pattern at all. But you
can rewrite the differences as:
7 = 2 × 4 − 1,
18 = 2 × 11 − 4,
47 = 2 × 29 − 11,

123 = 2 × 76 − 29.
Answer

From this pattern,

the third term in the pattern is two times the second term minus the first term;

the fourth term is two times the third term minus the second term;

the fifth term is three times the fourth term minus the third term, and so on.

Hence, the next term must be 2 × 199 − 76 = 322. The first two terms are fixed.
Example 19

Find the next two terms in the number sequence:

11, 23, 48, 99, ___, ___

Example 19

Find the next two terms in the number sequence:

11, 23, 48, 99, ___, ___

Answer

Finding the differences, you will get

23 − 11 = 12 and simple 11 + 1

48 − 23 = 25, or 23 + 2

99 − 48 = 51, or 48 + 3
Answer

From these, know that the first term is fixed at 11. The second term is the sum of twice
the first term plus 1. The third term is twice the second term plus 2. The fourth number
is the sum of twice the third number plus 4.

Therefore, the nth term can be calculated as two times the previous term plus 𝑛 − 1.

Hence, the fifth term in the pattern must be 2 × 202 + 5 = 409 .

Example 20

Find the missing number in the sequence:

6, 13, 27, 55, 111, ___

Answer

The differences between two consecutive numbers will not show any
pattern. But notice that the second number is two times the first number
plus 1, the third number is two times the second number plus 1, the
fourth number is two times the third number plus 1, and the fifth
number is two times the fourth number plus 1.

Hence, the next number must be 2 × 11 + 1 = 223.

Word Patterns

Patterns can also be found in language. The metrical patterns

of poems and the syntactic patterns of how nouns are made
plural or how verbs are changed to past tense are both word
patterns. Language is a way to communicate in inductive
mathematics.
Word Patterns

Word patterns are used in decoding like: consonant blends

(words with a group of two or three consonants that each
make its sound – grow, blend, sleeve, stair, sweet, free, blood,
clothes),
Word Patterns

consonant digraphs (words with two or three letters that

come together to create a single sound.

For example: chest, shop, sheep, brush, shirt, shade

Word Patterns

vowel diphthongs (vowels that glide in the middle – boil,

now, soil, brown, cloud, rain, meat, bout, cow),
Word Patterns

vowel digraphs (a spelling pattern in which two or more

adjoining letters represent a single vowel sound – school,
clean, each, feet, moon, cheese).