QUESTION IMAGE
Question
- in a larger rug, atsidi plans a repeating geometric design where each new section doubles in size. if the first section uses 50 threads and the pattern continues for 8 sections:
a. calculate the total number of threads used after 8 sections.
b. what could be a rule or formula ( either explicit or recursive) for the total number of threads for n sections.
c. explain in your own words how this relates to exponential growth.
4 atsidi wants to create a border pattern that increases linearly. the first border has 6 colored triangles, the second 9, the third 12, and so on. she wants to know how many total triangles she will have after finishing 20 borders.
a. find the total number of triangles used in 20 borders.
b. what could be a rule or formula ( explicit or recursive) for the sum of triangles of n borders.
c. how can atsidi use this information to estimate how many yarn bundles to prepare?
Part 3a:
Step1: Identify the sequence type
The number of threads per section forms a geometric sequence with first term \( a_1 = 50 \) and common ratio \( r = 2 \) (since each section doubles in size). The formula for the sum of the first \( n \) terms of a geometric sequence is \( S_n=\frac{a_1(1 - r^n)}{1 - r} \) (for \( r
eq1 \)).
Step2: Substitute values for \( n = 8 \)
Here, \( a_1 = 50 \), \( r = 2 \), and \( n = 8 \). Substitute into the formula:
Step1: Explicit formula for sum of geometric sequence
For a geometric sequence with first term \( a_1 \) and common ratio \( r \), the explicit formula for the sum of the first \( n \) terms is \( S_n=\frac{a_1(1 - r^n)}{1 - r} \) (when \( r
eq1 \)). Here, \( a_1 = 50 \) and \( r = 2 \), so substituting these values gives \( S_n=\frac{50(1 - 2^n)}{1 - 2} \). Simplifying the denominator (\( 1 - 2=-1 \)), we get \( S_n = 50(2^n - 1) \) (since dividing by - 1 flips the signs in the numerator).
Step2: Recursive formula
The recursive formula for the sum of the first \( n \) terms of a geometric sequence can be defined in terms of the previous sum. Let \( S_n \) be the sum of the first \( n \) terms and \( S_{n - 1} \) be the sum of the first \( n - 1 \) terms. The \( n \)-th term \( a_n=a_1r^{n - 1}=50\times2^{n - 1} \). So, \( S_n=S_{n - 1}+a_n=S_{n - 1}+50\times2^{n - 1} \), with the initial condition \( S_1 = 50 \) (since the first section uses 50 threads).
Step1: Definition of exponential growth
Exponential growth occurs when a quantity increases by a constant factor over equal intervals of time (or in this case, over equal numbers of sections). In this problem, the number of threads per section is doubling (multiplying by 2, a constant factor) with each new section. The total number of threads used after \( n \) sections is given by a formula that involves \( 2^n \) (from the geometric sequence sum formula), which is the characteristic of exponential growth. As \( n \) increases, the total number of threads grows very rapidly because the base of the exponential term (2) is greater than 1, leading to a rapid increase in the value of the function as \( n \) increases.
Step2: Relate to the problem
The number of threads per section is a geometric sequence with a common ratio greater than 1 ( \( r = 2 \) ), so the total number of threads (the sum of the geometric sequence) will grow exponentially. For example, as we saw in part 3a, after 8 sections, the total is 12750, and if we were to calculate for a larger \( n \), say \( n = 10 \), the total would be \( 50(2^{10}-1)=50(1024 - 1)=50\times1023 = 51150 \), which is a much larger increase compared to linear growth.
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