Investigating patterns NAME: _______________________ CLASS: _______

Part 1: Investigate what happens when you multiply values in exponential form

This morning, Mr Jace Allenson was in a hurry, so he leaped two stairs at once or stepped onto the next stair at
a time. Now suppose that he mixed these two kinds of action. In how many ways can I get up a flight of n
stairs?
The table below shows the number of ways that he can go up 1 step, 2 steps and 3 steps of a flight of stairs.
Now work in pairs to count the number of possible ways to go up a flight of 4 stairs, 5 stairs, 6 stairs and so on.

Suppose that you climb up a flight of n stairs. You can move either one or two steps forward at any point.
1. Complete the following table:
2. Let n denote the number of stairs and T (n) be the total number of ways climbing a flight of n stairs.
a) Find the value of T (15).
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b) Describe the relation for the pattern you find in the table.
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c) Use algebraic symbols such as n and T (n) to represent the relation obtained in part 2(b).
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