1 2 5 9 16 _? What is the next number on the sequence
Answers
Answered by
0
Answer:
Probably
36
, but it could be anything.
Explanation:
Notice that all of the given numbers are square numbers:
4
=
2
2
,
9
=
3
2
,
16
=
4
2
,
25
=
5
2
So it looks like the intended general term of the sequence is:
a
n
=
(
n
+
1
)
2
which would make the next term
a
5
=
(
5
+
1
)
2
=
6
2
=
36
On the other hand, no finite subsequence determines a unique rule, unless you are told that it is a particular kind of sequence, e.g. arithmetic, geometric, harmonic, quadratic,...
Why does the sequence not start at
1
?
It could be the sequence of square numbers in ascending order which are not triangular numbers. If so, then the next number in the sequence would be
49
, since
36
is a triangular number.
Similar questions