STELLAR NUMBERS In this task I will consider geometric shapes which lead to special numbers.

The simplest example of these are square numbers 1, 4, 9, 16, which can be represented by squares of side 1, 2, 3, and 4. However, I am going to investigate the triangular numbers (1, 3, 6,) that can be found in the stellar shapes. The diagrams showed below are painted by using Dia Diagram Editor 0.97.1 1. The following diagrams show a triangular pattern of evenly spaced dots. The numbers of dots in each diagram are examples of triangular numbers (1; 3; 6; 10; 15; 21; 28; 36).

10

15

21

28

36

Diagrams show that each stellar shape is formed by putting the additional row of evenly spaced dots. Consequently, the 6th, 7th and 8th terms can be found when a n represents the n th triangular number.
a1 = 1 a2 = 1 + 2 = 3 a3 = 3 + 3 = 6 a 4 = 6 + 4 = 10 a 5 = 10 + 5 = 15 a 6 = 15 + 6 = 21 a 7 = 21 + 7 = 28 a8 = 28 + 8 = 36

2. From the calculations above we can observe the arithmetic progression:

a1 = 1 a2 = 1 + 2 = 3
a3 = 3 + 3 = 6

a 4 = 6 + 4 = 10 a 5 = 10 + 5 = 15

number: a n = a n 1 + n, n

Therefore, the general statement can be found where a n represents the n th triangular

3. Lets consider now the stellar shapes with p vertices, leading to p-stellar numbers. The first 7 representations for a star with six vertices are shown in the 7 stages S1 - S 7 below. The 6-stellar number at each stage is the total number of dots in the diagram.

S1
S1 = 1 S 2 = 13

S2

S3

S4

S5

S6

S7

S 3 = 13 + 24 = 37 S 4 = 37 + 24 + 12 = 73 S 5 = 73 + 36 + 12 = 121 S 6 = 121 + 48 + 12 = 181

patterns: S n = S ( n 1) +12( n 1)

Therefore, the data can be organized so that we could recognize and describe any

4. Lets find an expression for the 6-stellar number at a stage S 7 , where a6 represents the 6th triangular number (21) mentioned above.
S 7 = S 6 + 12 6 = 181 + 72 = 253 S 7 = 253 = 12 21 + 1 S 7 = 12 a 6 + 1

5. Now the general statement for the 6-stellar number can be found at stage S n in terms of n.

S1 = 1 = 12 0 + 1 S 2 = 13 = 12 1 + 1 S 3 = 13 + 24 = 37 = 12 3 + 1 = 12 a 2 + 1 S 4 = 37 + 36 = 73 = 12 6 + 1 = 12 a3 + 1 S 5 = 73 + 48 = 121 = 12 10 + 1 = 12 a 4 + 1 S 6 = 121 + 60 = 181 = 12 15 + 1 = 12 a5 + 1 S 7 = 181 + 72 = 253 = 12 21 + 1 = 12 a6 + 1

As we can see from the calculations above, the number of dots in the stars (i.e. the
stellar number) can be found by multiplying a number 12 (this is the number of dots which is attached to the new star) and specific triangular number plus 1. Therefore, the general statement can be presented: S n =12 a( n 1) +1 The general statement shows that the vertices of the stellar shapes actually compose the triangular numbers. This can be explained by the diagram below, where the vertices of S 2 compose the triangular number 3, the vertices of S 3 compose the triangular number 6, the vertices of S 4 compose the triangular number 10, the vertices of S 5 compose the triangular number 15 and so on.

S2

S3

S4

S5

S6

6. Therefore, the general statement can be found in terms of p which is vertex of stellar shape and n that generates the sequence of p-stellar numbers for any value of p at stage Sn .
p = an ; p = a n = a ( n 1) + n S n = 12 p ( n 1) +1

7. Lets test the validity of the general statement. a)

p 7 = a 6 + 7 = 21 + 7 = 28 S 8 = 12 p ( n 1) + 1 = 12 p 7 + 1 = 12 28 + 1 = 337

b) S 8 = S (81) + 12(8 1) = 253 + 84 = 337 8. I arrived at the general statement by observing the calculations and trying to relate one statement with another due to develop a general principle about the stellar shapes. The data gathered from observing some examples of these geometric shapes is applied as a general rule about all stellar shapes. Although the general statement is very simple and clear it has a limitation since it is a recursive formula. Recursion is the process of choosing a starting term and repeatedly applying the same process to each term to arrive at the following term. Recursion requires that one know the value of the term immediately before the term he is trying to find. That means that if one wanted to calculate a specific number, he would have to make all the calculations coherently or to create a computer program.