Patterns and Sequences

Henrico County Public School

Mathematics Teachers
Patterns and Sequences
• Patterns refer to usual types of procedures or rules
that can be followed.
• Patterns are useful to predict what came before or
what might come after a set a numbers that are
arranged in a particular order.
• This arrangement of numbers is called a sequence.
For example: 3,6,9,12 and 15 are numbers that
form a pattern called a sequence.
• The numbers that are in the sequence are called
terms.
Patterns and Sequences
Arithmetic sequence (arithmetic
progression) – a sequence of numbers in
which the difference between any two
consecutive numbers or expressions is the
same

Geometric sequence – a sequence of

numbers in which each term is formed by
multiplying the previous term by the same
number or expression
Arithmetic Sequence 1
Find the next three numbers or terms in each pattern.

7, 12, 17, 22,...

+5 +5 +5

Look for a pattern: usually a procedure or rule that uses the

same number or expression each time to find the next
term. The pattern is to add 5 to each term.
The Next Three Numbers
7, 12, 17, 22...
Add five to the last term
The next three terms are: 27, 32, 37.
22 +5= 27
27 +5= 32
32 +5= 37
Arithmetic Sequence 2
Find the next three numbers or terms in each pattern.
45, 42, 39, 36...

45, 42, 39, 36...

+ (−3) + (−3) + (−3)

Look for a pattern: usually a procedure or rule that uses the

same number or expression each time to find the next
term. The pattern is to add the integer (-3) to each term.
The Next Three Numbers 2
45, 42, 39, 36...
Add the integer (-3) to each term
The next three terms are: 33, 30, 27.

36 + (−3) = 33
33+ (−3) = 30
30 + (−3) = 27
Geometric Sequence 1
Find the next three numbers or terms in each pattern.

3, 9, 27, 81...
× 3 × 3 × 3

Look for a pattern: usually a procedure or rule that uses the

same number or expression each time to find the next
term. The pattern is to multiply each term by three.
The Next Three 1
3, 9, 27, 81...
Multiply each term by three
The next three terms are: 243, 729, 2187

81 243 729
× 3 × 3 × 3
243 729 2187
Geometric Sequence 2
Find the next three numbers or terms in each pattern.

528, 256, 128, 64...

528, 256, 128, 64...

1 1 1
÷ 2 or × ÷ 2 or × ÷ 2 or ×
2 2 2

Look for a pattern: usually a procedure or rule that uses the

same number or expression each time to find the next
term. The pattern is to divide each term by two.
The Next Three 2
528, 256, 128, 64...
Divide each term by two
The next three terms are: 32, 16, 8.
64 ÷ 2 = 32
or
64 × 1 = 64 = 32 32 ÷ 2 =16
1 2 2 or
32 × 1 = 32 =16 16 ÷ 2 = 8
1 2 2 or
16 × 1 = 16 = 8
1 2 2
Note
To divide by a number is the same as multiplying by its
reciprocal.
The pattern for a geometric sequence is represented as a
multiplication pattern.
For example: to divide by 2 is represented as the pattern
multiply by a half.
16 ÷ 2 = 8
is the sam e as
16 × 1 = 16 = 8
1 2 2
Patterns & Sequences
Decide the pattern for each and find the next three numbers.

a) 7, 12, 17, 22, … a) 27, 32, 37

b) 1, 4, 7, 10, … b) 13, 16, 19
c) 2, 6, 18, 54, ... c) 162, 486, 1548
d) 20, 18, 16, 14, … d) 12, 10, 8
e) 64, 32, 16, ... e) 8, 4, 2