Tower of Hanoi: A Context for Algebraic Reasoning

Dr. Juliana Utley, Oklahoma State University

It is important to make mathematics relevant to our students, thus providing a context for them to
explore patterns and determine algebraic generalizations is extremely important. The National
Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) (2000) recommends that students need to
recognize and apply mathematics in contexts outside of mathematics (p. 65) and suggests that
mathematical models can be used to clarify and interpret the phenomenon (p. 70). By using the
legend of the Tower of Hanoi, students have a context and a physical model to use in their
explorations.
Goal: finding a pattern and making an algebraic generalization
Materials:
Tower of Hanoi (per pair or group)
(you can also use different sizes of washers from the
hardware store and a piece of paper with 3 large dots to
simulate a tower of Hanoi or use the virtual manipulative
described below)
Set up of initial task:
There is a legend, invented by French Mathematician Edourad Lucas in 1883, about an ancient
Indian temple which contains a large room with three time-worn posts containing 64 discs and is
commonly referred to as The Tower of Hanoi. The Tower of Hanoi is a set of 3 spindles or poles
upon which are placed disks of descending sizes. (See graphic representation above.) Legend
has it that all 64 discs were first placed on one of the poles in descending order of size and that
when all 64 discs were moved to another pole following certain rules (see below) the world
would end. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Hanoi)
Rules: The puzzle or challenge is to move the tower of disks to a different spindle
following two rules:
You may move only 1 disk at a time.
At no time can a larger disk be placed on a smaller disk.
Task: How many moves does it take to move all 64 disks on the tower?
For students having trouble getting started ask how many moves it would take if
there were no disks. What about 1 disk? 2 disks? 3 disks? 10 disks?
Some students may need to be encouraged to create a table of values
Note that the task has students start by solving simpler problems and then
use those to make a generalization to solve the larger problem
Generalize: Have students write out in words a good way to tell how many moves it would
take no matter how many disks are on the pole initially.
Be sure to have students share their solution strategies and generalizations

Formalize: Students should write a mathematical equation for their generalization.

M ( n) 2 n 1 , where M represents # of moves and n represents # of discs

Note: The recursive relationship is Tn = Tn-1 + 1 where Tn represents the total

number of moves for n disks.
Solution: If the legend were true, and if the priests were able to move discs at a rate of 1 per
second, using the smallest number of moves, it would take them 264 1 seconds or
roughly 585 billion years. The universe is currently about 13.7 billion years old.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Hanoi)
Website: NCTMs Illuminations section contains a virtual version of the Tower of Hanoi.
http://illuminations.nctm.org/ActivityDetail.aspx?ID=40
References:
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2000). Principles and Standards for School
Mathematics. Reston, VA: author.
Tower of Hanoi. Wikipedia: Free online Encyclopedia located at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Hanoi
Note: Tower of Hanoi puzzles can be purchased from educational catalogs and stores