Question

Look at the following matchstick pattern of squares. The squares are not separate. Two neighbouring squares have a common matchstick. Observe the patterns and find the rule that gives the number of matchsticks in terms of the number of squares. (Hint: If you remove the vertical stick at the end, you will get a pattern of Cs.)

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

Answer 1

We may observe that in the given matchstick pattern, the number of matchsticks is 3, 5, 7 and 9 which is 1 more than the twice of the number of triangles in the pattern.

Therefore, the pattern is 2x + 1, where x is the number of triangles.