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Ahmet Ulusoy College

IB Mathematics SL Internal Assessment
Type I
LACSAP's Fractions




Candidate Name: evval Beli
Candidate Number: 006615-006/dxm 499


evval Beli
006615-006
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LACSAPS FRACTIONS
Aim: In this task you will consider a set of numbers that are presented in a symmetrical
pattern.
Step 1: Realizing that LACSAP is an anagram of PASCAL, I have tried to find similarities
between the Pascals triangle and LACSAPs fractions.
1 1
1

1
1

1
1

1
1

1


1
1 1
1 2 1
1 3 3 1
1 4 6 4 1
1 5 10 10 5 1
1 6 15 20 15 6 1
1 7 21 35 35 21 7 1
1 8 28 56 70 56 28 8 1


Step 2: The complete pattern given did not show adequate similarities with Pascals Triangle
to figure out the numerator of the sixth row at first sight. However, when only the numerators
Figure 1: LACSAPs Fractions, as given in the task.
Figure 2: First nine rows of Pascals Triangle.
evval Beli
006615-006
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of the fractions in the pattern were compared with the Pascals triangle, it appeared clearly
that the second diagonal row of the pattern was equal to the third one in the Pascals triangle.
1 1
1 3 1
1 6 6 1
1 10 10 10 1
1 15 15 15 15 1

Hence, the numerator of the sixth row can be found:
1 1
1 3 1
1 6 6 1
1 10 10 10 1
1 15 15 15 15 1
1 21 21 21 21 21 1
1 28 28 28 28 28 28 1
.


Step 3: To be able to show an algebraic method to find the numerator of the sixth row; we
need to know about the binomial coefficient. Every entry in Pascals triangle is denoted by
n
C
r
, the binomial coefficient. In
n
C
r
, n is the row number and r is the number of the diagonal
row.

(Ibrahim Wazir, 2012) The binomial coefficient
n
C
r
is defined by:

( )

Figure 3: Numerators of the first five rows of LACSAPs Fractions.
Figure 4: Numerators of the first seven rows of LACSAPs Fractions.
evval Beli
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Since the pattern has the number set in the second diagonal row, rather than the third one like
in the Pascals triangle; we should add one to the row number (n) in the binomial coefficient:
(6+1)
C
2
= 21 The numerator of the sixth row.
(7+1)
C
2
= 28 The numerator of the seventh row.

Row Number (n) Numerator
1 1
2 3
3 6
4 10
5 15
6 21
7 28










+2
+3
+4
+5
+6
+7
The numerator grows
exponentially as the row
number increases. This
indicates the existence of
a quadratic function,
y=ax
2
+bx+c, where y is
the numerator and x is
the row number (n).
Table 1: Numerators of the first seven rows of LACSAPs Fractions.
evval Beli
006615-006
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Step 4: We need to operate on the given numerators to find the quadratic equation:
y=ax
2
+bx+c







Solving equations simultaneously:






Hence, the quadratic equation can be written as:
y=0.5x
2
+0.5x
y=

Since y represents the numerator, and x stands for the row number (n), the general statement
would be:
Numerator=

Row 1: 1=a(1
2
)+b(1)+c
a+b+c=1
Row 2: 3=a(2
2
)+b(2)+c
4a+2b+c=3

Row 3: 6=a(3
2
)+b(3)+c
9a+3b+c=6

Row 4: 10=a(4
2
)+b(4)+c
16a+4b+c=10

1 4a+2b+c=3
a+b+c=1
3a+b=2
2 16a+4b+c=10
9a+3b+c=6
7a+b=4
a=0.5
b=0.5
c=0
3 7a+b=4
3a+b=2
4a=2
evval Beli
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The graph
1
has shown that the relation between the row number and the numerator forms a
quadratic equation, y=ax
2
+bx+c, where y is the value of the numerator and x is the row
number (n). The values of the constants in the equation; a, b and c have been found as 0.5, 0.5
and 0, respectively. The general statement for finding the numerator has been figured as the
sum of square of row number and row number divided by two. The statement's validity can be
tested by an example from the given figure:
Numerator of the 5th row:

=15


1
I have used Logger Pro 3.8.6.1 Demo to draw this graph.
Graph 1: Relation between the row number (n) and the numerator in the first seven rows.

evval Beli
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Step 5: Since the numerator of the sixth row have been found using the pattern of the
numerators in the second diagonal row, I have investigated whether the denominators of that
row share a similar pattern:
1 1
1 2 1
1 4 4 1
1 7 6 7 1
1 11 9 9 11 1


Elements of the 2
nd

Diagonal Row

Denominator
1 1
2 2
3 4
4 7
5 11
6 16
7 22





+1
+2
+3
+4
+5
+6
Figure 5: Denominators of the first five rows of LACSAP's Fractions.

Table 2: Relation between the elements of the 2
nd
diagonal row and their denominators.

evval Beli
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Hence, the sixth and seventh rows of the LACSAPs Fractions are:

1 1
1

1
1

1
1

1
1

1
1

1
1

1


Step 6: After figuring out the pattern of the denominators of the elements in the second row
and adding the sixth and seventh rows to the LACSAPs Fractions, I have observed that all
diagonal rows share the same pattern.
E
n
(r) is given as the (r+1)
th
element in the n
th
row, starting with r=0.

Row Number
(n)

Numerator
Denominator
r=0 r=1 r=2 r=3 r=4 r=5
1 1 1 1
2 3 1 2 1
3 6 1 4 4 1
4 10 1 7 6 7 1
5 15 1 11 9 9 11 1

When Table 3 is formed,
two different patterns have
become apparent; one is
the pattern that the
denominators of the
diagonal rows show, and
the other is the pattern of
the differences of
numerators and
denominators when r=1.
Table 3: Relation between the denominators and the numerators of elements.

Figure 6: The first seven rows of LASCAPs Fractions.

evval Beli
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As seen from the table, denominators of the diagonal rows increase with the same pattern as
the numerators. Let us give r=1, r=2 and r=3 as example:
E
n
(1) =1, 2, 4, 7, 11
E
n
(2) =4, 6, 9
E
n
(3) =7, 9
The first and the last elements of the rows (all of them are 1) could be multiplied by the
common numerator of the row to fit the pattern (ex. E
n
(2) =3,4,6,7 E
n
(3)=6,7,9 etc). Also,
when we subtract the denominators from numerators in the 1
st
, 2
nd
, 3
rd
and 4
th
rows when r=1,
the results are; 0, 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Here, a connection between the row number and the
difference between the values of numerators and denominators (let us call this difference d)
is palpable; the difference is always one less than the row number (when n=1, d=0; when n=2,
d=1 and so forth). By combining all these, we can find a general statement for finding the
denominator and consequently, for E
n
(r):
Denominator of E
1
(1)=10=1
Denominator of E
2
(1)=31=2
Denominator of E
3
(1)=62=4 and so on. Hence, the general statement for the denominator
is:
Denominator of E
n
(r) =Numerator of E
n
(r) d
Denominator of E
n
(r) =

r(nr)

evval Beli
006615-006
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Step 7: Since general statements for the numerator and the denominator have been found, we
can write a general statement for LACSAPs Fractions (E
n
(r) is given as the (r+1)
th
element in
the n
th
row, starting with r=0.):
E
n
(r) =

--


Step 8: We can test the validity of this general statement by finding additional rows. Ex:
Row 8:
E
8
(0)=

)-(-)

=

=1
E
8
(1)=

)-(-)

=

E
8
(2)=

)-(-)

=

E
8
(3)=

)-(-)

=

E
8
(4)=

)-(-)

=

E
8
(5)=

)-(-)

=

E
8
(6)=

)-(-)

=

E
8
(7)=

)-(-)

=

E
8
(8)=

)-(-)

=

Row 9:
E
9
(0)=

)-(-)

=

= 1
E
9
(1)=

)-(-)

=

E
9
(2)=

)-(-)

=

E
9
(3)=

)-(-)

=

E
9
(4)=

)-(-)

=

E
9
(5)=

)-(-)

=

E
9
(6)=

)-(-)

=

E
9
(7)=

)-(-)

=

E
9
(8)=

)-(-)

=

E
9
(9)=

)-(-)

=

= 1
evval Beli
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Since the row and the element numbers cannot be negative, the statement is true when r0
and n1, * + . Elements are lined in a symmetrical fashion in each row. Hence, the first
and the last elements of each row will be equal to one. In the statement, the denominator
cannot be zero however, since r can only be smaller than or equal to n, we do not need to
point that out.
I have tested the validity of newly found rows in Step 8, using the methods in Steps 3 and 5.
Hence, the first nine rows of the LASCAPs Fractions are:

1 1
1

1
1

1
1

1
1

1
1

1
1

1
1

1
1

1



References
Ibrahim Wazir, Garry T. (2012). Higher Level Mathematics. Harlow, Essex. Pearson Education
Limited.

Figure 7: The first nine rows of LASCAPs Fractions.