Numbers
Number patterns
Work out the rule behind a pattern of numbers and carry the pattern on.
A pattern is a list of numbers that follows a rule. Your job is never to guess the next number — it is to find the rule, and then the next number comes out on its own.
How to find the rule
Look at what happens between one number and the next, all the way along. If the same thing happens every time, that is the rule. If it does not, look at the jumps themselves — sometimes they follow a pattern of their own.
Have a play
This line starts at 1 and every mark along it is 4 further on. Move from mark to mark and see which numbers the pattern lands on.
Tap anywhere on the line.
Worked example
What comes next in 5, 9, 13, 17?
Find the jumps: 5 to 9 is 4, 9 to 13 is 4, 13 to 17 is 4.
Checking every jump, not just the first, is what makes this a rule rather than a hunch.
Try it together
Let us carry on the pattern 4, 7, 10, 13 together.
Find the jump first, check it holds all the way along, and only then use it.
1.What is the jump from 4 to 7?
Have a go
Have a go on your own: what comes next in 9, 14, 19, 24?
Ready to practise?
Eight questions on what you have just read. Nothing is timed, and you can play as many times as you like.