How Patterns plays important role in maths?
Now, let us apply this idea to how we perceive math. By nature, math is a language of repeated patterns. All the theorems and concepts that we learn from school until the time we graduate are all patterns in maths that repeated themselves.
For example, Pythagorean Triplets are three sides of a triangle that repeatedly fit a pattern if the triangle happened to be right-angled; progressions are a series of numbers that repeatedly occur in a specific pattern for a given condition.
The study of patterns helps students to observe relationships and find connections.
The most commonly encountered patterns in maths are Number patterns. If there exists a rule that connects a set of numbers, then it becomes a number pattern.
For example, odd numbers: 1,3,5,7, and so on are the set of numbers that are not divisible by 2. On the other hand, even numbers are all divisible by 2 like 2,4,6,8 and so on.
Fibonacci numbers follow the pattern that each number is the sum of the previous two numbers, like, 0,1,1,2,3,5,8, and so on.
Shouldn’t we be left alone to explore patterns like these and learn from the maps we make? Why is it that we are forced to learn math as a series of factoids with no pattern?
Forcing abstract ideas by discounting the obvious ways that they occur makes math a dull and boring subject to learn.
Significant Examples of patterns
The “Nash Equilibrium” that earned John Forbes Nash Jr. a Nobel prize in economics for his contributions to game theory, Alan Turing’s breakthrough on deciphering the code for Enigma during the second world war which aided in a somewhat positive outcome to end the war; and even the proof of the sum of n natural numbers is “-1/12” submitted by Srinivas Ramanujan to his mentor Dr. Hardy in Cambridge university are all classic examples of how seeking patterns in maths will lead to solving unsolved problems.
Most of the extraordinary mathematicians had someone who recognized and supported their ability to see and explore patterns in maths.
Those are some examples of the mathematicians from pop-culture, but if you dig deeper, you will find that all patrons of math have become so because they got a chance to wander, explore and discover the patterns themselves.
Conclusion
In Mathematics, a pattern-seeking mind is important as for most problems, you can identify the general pattern and basic concept, making them relatively easier to be solved.
So, here’s the closing thought: Go out there and find mathematical patterns in the most mundane things. Savor the taste of those orderly structures from the chaos of life. Who knows, you may stumble upon on a pattern in maths that has never been seen before.
How you can see patterns in daily life
- At the park, layout a rock, a pine cone, and a twig, and ask your child to continue the pattern.
- While waiting for food at a restaurant, ask your child to create a pink-pink-blue pattern using sugar substitute packets.
- In the kitchen, teach your child how to set the table by playing utensils in the correct order or alternating the napkin each seat gets (white, printed, white, printed).
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Frequently Asked Questions on patterns
What is the pattern rule?
A numerical pattern is a sequence of numbers that have been created based on a formula or rule called a pattern rule. Pattern rules can use one or more mathematical operations to describe the relationship between consecutive numbers in the pattern.
What are the 5 patterns in nature?
Natural patterns include symmetries, trees, spirals, meanders, waves, foams, tessellations, cracks and stripes. Early Greek philosophers studied pattern, with Plato, Pythagoras, and Empedocles attempting to explain the order in nature.
