Patterns & Sequences

What comes next?

3 , 5 , 7 , 9 ...

• 13

• 11

• 10

• 9

Answer explanation

The correct answer Is 11. Each term has a difference of + 2. if we + 2 to our last term (9) we get 11.

what comes next in the sequence ?

4 , 8 , 12 , 16 , ...

• 24

• 22

• 20

• 18

Answer explanation

the correct answer is 20. the difference between each term is + 4. if we + 4 to our last term (16) , we will get 20.

which is a valid linear sequence?

• 3 , 6 , 9 , 12 , 15

• 4 , 5 , 7 , 9 , 9

• 3 , 5 , 6 , 8 , 11

• -1 , 0 , 1 , 3 , -5

Answer explanation

the difference between each term is +3. The other options are incorrect as there is no pattern between terms.

what number is missing?

29 , 34 , (a)   , 44 , 49 , 54

Answer explanation

the difference between each term is + 5. If we add + 5 to 34, we will get our missing term, 39.

what comes next?

Answer explanation

the pattern goes right , down , left , up , right.

By asking what comes next, we look at what comes after right.

Down is what comes after right, so Down is the correct answer.

Just describe the Linear sequences a & c.

Tell me the start term, end term, and the difference between each term.

what term comes next?

10, 5 , 0 , -5 , -10 ...

• -20

• -17

• -10

• -15

Answer explanation

the pattern in this sequence is - 5. after each term we subtract 5 from the last term.

if we subtract 5 from -10, we will get -15.

which of the following is NOT a LINEAR sequence?

• 1 , 4 , 7 , 10 , 13

• 8 , 6 , 4 , 2 , 0

• 10 , 20 , 40 , 80 , 160

• 12, 6 , 0 , -6 , -12

Answer explanation

10 , 20 , 40 , 80 , 160 is not a linear sequence. the difference between each term, is double (2 times) bigger than the previous term.

the difference between 10 & 20 is 10.

But, the difference between 20 & 40 is 20. double the previous difference. This is not LINEAR.

How many times do red marbles appear in the first 20 marbles of this pattern?

• 7

• 6

• 8

• 4

Answer explanation

we have a pattern of 6 marbles. Within this pattern, red shows up 2 times. We will continue to repeat the pattern, until we have pulled out 20 marbles.

We cannot repeat the pattern 4 times, as 6 x 4 = 24, and this is more than the amount of marbles we have. (20).

so, the most we can repeat the pattern is 3 times. ( 6 x 3 = 18). this will leave us with 2 marbles left over. (18 + 20 = 20).

if we repeat the pattern 3 times, we will get 6 marbles. but, then, of the two remaining marbles, 1 of the is also going to be red. so our answer is 7.

complete the following two questions.