COLEGIO ANGLO COLOMBIANO

Stellar Numbers Investigation

IB Standard Level Mathematics
Juan Pablo Gonzlez 13/02/2012

Introduction This is a project for the Standard Level Mathematics subject adjourned to the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, in which we will complete several tasks, all related to certain geometric shapes that can lead and be related to special numbers. For this purpose, we will use two applications other than Microsoft Word. The first is a web application called Wolfram Alpha, which is a computational knowledge engine that helps us graph the equations that will be explained further on. The second is the native Mac OS X application Grapher, which will also serve this purpose. Images of the patterns will be used and will be credited as appropriate

Part I Triangular Numbers This first part will consider triangular numbers. Triangular numbers can be represented as triangular patterns of evenly spaced dots, whose width increases as we add rows of dots, as shown on the diagram below:

Our first task is to complete the sequence displayed in the diagram. This is shown in the diagram below. The diagram contains the triangles corresponding to T6-T8.

The patterns in the image above provide information with which we can create a table. The table allows us to determine the nature of the function pertaining to the patterns, so that we can employ mathematical skills to work out the function itself. Because of this, our table will include the first and second differences pertaining to the patterns.

n y
First diff.

1 1
2 Second diff.

2 3
3

3 6
4

4 10
5

5 15
6

6 21
7

7 28
8

8 36

table responds to is a quadratic function. Thus, we will have to find an equation with the form y=ax2+bx+c. For this purpose we will use a system of simultaneous equations, using the first three n and y values displayed in the table. Before this, it is important to note that T0 is the triangle with no points, and thus has coordinates (0,0), making c in the equation equal to 0. Equation 1 (taken from (1,1)): y = a(1)2+b(1)+c 1 = a+b Equation 2 (taken from (2,3)): y = a(2)2+b(2)+c 3 = 4a+2b Equation 3 (taken from (3,6)) y = a(3) +b(3)+c 6 = 9a+3b With these three equations, we can work out both a and b. E2 E1:
2

4a+2b=3 2(a+b=1) Thus: 4a+2b=3 -2a+2b=2 2a=1 a=0.5 E3 E2 : 4(9a+3b=6) 9(4a+2b=3)

Thus:

36a+12b=24 36a+18b=27

-6b=-3 b=0.5

We thus have found that in the function pertaining to the triangular numbers pattern, both a and b equal 0.5. This allows us to work out the function itself as follows: y = n2+n y=(n2+n)/2 We now have to prove that this function is correct and does indeed work. For this, we will use T3: y = (32+3)/2 y = (9+3)/2 y = 12/2 y = 6 Function found is valid. To further prove the validity of this formula, we employed a Casio FX-9750GII GD calculator, and used its graphing function to display the graph for the formula we found. We then proceeded to use the y-calc function, which finds the y value for any given x value of the function being displayed. We entered all the x values displayed on the table in this document, and the calculator returned the proper y values. The graph for the formula will be included below:

Part II Stellar Numbers

We must now consider stellar numbers (star shapes) with p-vertices. For mathematical study purposes we will start by looking at 6-stellar shapes, of which the first four stages are shown in the diagram below:

Having worked out the first and second differences, we have found the number of dots in each stage up to S6, and we have displayed the data in the table below, which displays those differences, again serving the purpose of helping us identify, once again, the type of function related to stellar numbers. n Sn 0 0
First diff. Second diff.

1 1
12

2 13
24

3 37
36

4 73
48

5 121
60

6 181

12

12

12

12

Once again, we notice that the second difference is always the same, thus indicating that, akin to the triangular numbers, stellar numbers are defined by a quadratic function. Before we go into finding the general statement for 6-stellar shapes, we will use the data on the table above to work out the number of dots in stage S7: -We know that the first difference between S6 and S7 will be 12 more than the difference between S5 and S6. This means that the difference will be 60+12=72. -This means that we will have to add 72 to the y value for S6: 181+72=253. The expression for this will be S7 = 12(T6) + 1

Now that we have done this, we will proceed to find the general statement for 6-stellar shapes, albeit with a different method. We will identify and use the patterns within the numbers to make this task easier. We have managed to identify the following important patterns:

The values for y are essentially multiples of 12 to which we add 1 (the centre point in each shape). This is related to the second difference, which is constantly 12. 12 is the number of vertices (note that a vertex is a corner formed by two edges of the shape) in a 6-pointed star, which is in question in this particular task. The first pattern that was observed and pointed out lets us write the stellar numbers as follows: - 12(0)+1=1 - 12(1)+1=13 - 12(3)+1=37 - 12(6)+1=73 - 12(10)+1=121 - 12(15)+1=181 This leads us to the next pattern: the co-factors of 12 (0, 1, 3, 6, 10 and 15) are in fact the triangular numbers we observed in Part I. This leads us to a crucial factor: stellar numbers are in fact functions of triangular numbers. To elaborate on this, we will denote the following condition. -S1 (the first stellar number) is a function of T0 (the zeroth triangular number), just as S2 is a function of T1. This means that Sn is a function of Tn-1. Thus, if Tn is equal to (n2+n)/2, then: -Tn = n/2 * (n+1) -Tn-1 = (n-1)/2 * (n+1-1) = (n-1)/2 * n = (n2-n)/2

We then can assume that if Tn-1=(n2-n)/2, and Sn = 12(Tn-1) + 1, then Sn = 12((n2-n)/2) + 1 After which it is a matter of mere expansion to work out the general statement:

Sn = 12 * (n2 n)/2 +1 = (12n2 12n)/2 +1 = 6n2 6n + 1

We must now test the validity of our statement, using the values in the table we initially produced. For this we will employ regular mathematical solving: Sn = 6n2 6n + 1 = 6(5)2 6(5) + 1 =6(25) 30 +1 =150 30 + 1 =121 This was again confirmed by using the graphing function on the GDC model denoted before, yielding satisfactory results. The graph of the function is again displayed below:

Part III Other values of P Part II was completed specifically for 6-stellar shapes (12 vertices, 6 points). Part III will concentrate on 5- and 7-stellar shapes, completing a similar procedure to work out the general statement for these values of p.

5-Stellar Shapes Below are the first four stages of the 5-stellar shapes:

Again, we have worked out the number of dots in each stage up to S6 by working out the first and second differences. The data resulting from the procedure is displayed in the table below: n Sn 0 0
First diff. Second diff.

1 1
10

2 11
20

3 31
30

4 61
40

5 101
50

6 151

10

10

10

10

Next, we use the data above to work out the number of dots at S7: -The difference between S6 and S7 will be 50+10=60. Thus, we must add 60 to 151, which yields the result 211. S7 then has 211 dots in its shape. The expression for this will be S7 = 12(T6) + 1

We now must find the general statement for 5-stellar numbers. Looking at our work with 6stellar shapes, we are able to point out exactly the same set of patterns observed therein.

Taking that into account, we can write the values of Sn as follows: - 10(0) + 1 = 1 - 10(1) + 1 = 11 - 10(3) + 1 = 31 - 10(6) + 1 = 61 - 10(10) + 1 = 101 - 10(15) + 1 = 151 Having observed that 5-stellar shapes seemingly follow the patterns observed for 6-stellar shapes, it is safe to conclude that, again, Sn is a function of Tn-1. The only difference would be that instead of the factor of Tn-1 being 12, it is 10, in the case of 5-stellar shapes. Again, it is then a matter of mere expansion to work out the general formula: Sn = 10 * (n2-n)/2 + 1 = (10n2 10n)/2 + 1 = 5n2 5n + 1 We will confirm the validity of this formula as follows, using the coordinates (5,101): Sn = 5(5)2 5(5) + 1 = 5(25) 25 + 1 = 125 25 + 1 = 101 The graph for the formula is displayed below:

This equation is essentially a stretched version of the equation found for 6-stellar shapes, as observed in the graph.

7-Stellar Shapes We now proceed to repeat the steps already done for 5- and 6-stellar shapes, now for 7-stellar shapes, of which the first four are displayed below:

The values we were able to work out for stages 5 and 6, along with the first and second differences for this value of p are shown on the table below: n Sn 0 0
First diff. Second diff.

1 1
14

2 15
28

3 43
42

4 85
56

5 141
70

6 211

14

14

14

14

Working out for S7: - Difference between S6 and S7 will be 70+14=84 - The value of S7 will equal 211 + 84 = 295 - The expression for this will be S7 = 12(T6) + 1 Akin to the patterns found for 5- and 6-stellar shapes, we have found that the values for S at any particular stage are the addition of a multiple of 14, according to the triangular pattern, to 1. Thus, we can repeat our process of writing the values as such: - 14(0) + 1 = 1 - 14(1) + 1 = 15 - 14(3) + 1 = 43 - 14(6) + 1 = 85 - 14(10) + 1 = 141 - 14(15) + 1 = 211 Having observed that 7-stellar shapes seemingly follow the patterns observed for 5- and 6stellar shapes, it is safe to conclude that, again, Sn is a function of Tn-1. The only difference would be that instead of the factor of Tn-1 being 12 or 10, it is 14. We thus resort to simple expansion of Sn = 14((n2-n)/2) + 1 to work out the general statement: Sn = 14((n2-n)/2) + 1 =(14n2 14n)/2 + 1 = 7n2 7n + 1 To again test the validity of this statement, we will replace n with 5. By carrying out the function, we should get 141 as a result: S5 = 7(5)2 7(5) + 1 = 7(25) 35 + 1 =175 35 + 1 =140 + 1 =141

This formula is thus valid. The graph for it is displayed below.

Part IV General statement for p-stellar shapes After completing the process of finding the general statement for three values of p in p-stellar shapes (5, 6 and 7), we must now find the general statement. For this we will identify a possible pattern in the three statements obtained in Parts II and III: 5-stellar shapes: Sn = 5x2 5x + 1 6-stellar shapes: Sn = 6x2 6x + 1 7-stellar shapes: Sn = 7x2 7x + 1 The pattern jumps to sight:

All three equations share a specific form, with c always being 1, a being positive and b being negative. The only difference between them is the values for a and b. In all three cases, a =-b In all three cases, a is equal to the number of points, and b is negative-the-numberof-points.

Thus, we can replace a with p and b with p, resulting in the general statement:

Sn = pn2 pn + 1
This statement has the particular limitation of only working when p R , as there are no negative shapes in none of the patterns described and observed above. Abiding by this, the statement is functional for any value of p, and thus, any kind of stellar shape. The statement cannot be applied to other polygons, such as squares. These have their own particular statements.