Pascals

Triangle
Rishabh Bhandari

What Is Pascals Triangle?

Inmathematics,Pascal's triangleis atriangular
arrayof thebinomial coefficients. It is named
after the French mathematicianBlaise Pascalin
much of theWestern world, although other
mathematicians studied it centuries before him
inIndia,Greece,Iran,China,Germany, andItaly.

History
The set of numbers that form Pascal's triangle were known before Pascal. However,
Pascal developed many uses of it and was the first one to organize all the
information together in histreatise,Trait du triangle arithmtique(1653). The
numbers originally arose from Hindu studies ofcombinatoricsand binomial
numbers and theGreeks' study offigurate numbers.
The earliest explicit depictions of a triangle ofbinomial coefficientsoccur in the
10th century in commentaries on theChandas Shastra, anAncient Indianbook
onSanskritprosodywritten byPingalain or before the 2nd century BC. While
Pingala's work only survives in fragments, the commentatorHalayudha, around
975, used the triangle to explain obscure references toMeru-prastaara, the
"Staircase ofMount Meru". It was also realised that the shallow diagonals of the
triangle sum to theFibonacci numbers. In 1068, four columns of the first sixteen
rows were given by the mathematician Bhattotpala, who realized the combinatorial
significance.
At around the same time, it was discussed inPersia(Iran) by
thePersianmathematician,Al-Karaji(9531029). It was later repeated by the
Persian poet-astronomer-mathematicianOmar Khayym(10481131); thus the
triangle is referred to as theKhayyam-Pascal triangleorKhayyam triangle in Iran.
Several theorems related to the triangle were known, including thebinomial
theorem. Khayyam used a method of findingnth rootsbased on the binomial
expansion, and therefore on the binomial coefficients.

 Pascal's triangle was known in China in the early 11th century through the
work of the Chinese mathematicianJia Xian(10101070). In 13th century,Yang
Hui(12381298) presented the triangle and hence it is still calledYang Hui's
triangleinChina.
Petrus Apianus(14951552) published the triangle on thefrontispieceof his
book on business calculations in the 16th century. This is the first record of the
triangle in Europe.
InItaly, it is referred to asTartaglia's triangle, named for the
ItalianalgebraistNiccol Fontana Tartaglia(150077). Tartaglia is credited with
the general formula for solving cubic polynomials (which may in fact be
fromScipione del Ferrobut was published byGerolamo Cardano1545).
Pascal'sTrait du triangle arithmtique(Treatise on Arithmetical Triangle) was
published posthumously in 1665. In this, Pascal collected several results then
known about the triangle, and employed them to solve problems inprobability
theory. The triangle was later named after Pascal byPierre Raymond de
Montmort(1708) who called it "Table de M. Pascal pour les combinaisons"
(French: Table of Mr. Pascal for combinations) andAbraham de Moivre(1730)
who called it "Triangulum Arithmeticum PASCALIANUM" (Latin: Pascal's
Arithmetic Triangle), which became the modern Western name. [8]

How is Pascals Triangle

Constructed?
At the tip of Pascal's Triangle is the number 1, which makes up the zeroth row. The
first row (1 & 1) contains two 1's, both formed by adding the two numbers above
them to the left and the right, in this case 1 and 0 (all numbers outside the Triangle
are 0's). Do the same to create the
2nd row: 0+1=1; 1+1=2; 1+0=1. And the third: 0+1=1; 1+2=3; 2+1=3; 1+0=1.
In this way, the rows of the triangle go on infinitly. A number in the triangle can
also be found by nCr (n Choose r) where n is the number of the row and r is the
element in that row. For example, in row 3, 1 is the zeroth element, 3 is element
number 1, the next three is the 2nd element, and the last 1 is the 3rd element. The
formula for nCr is:
n!
-------r!(n-r)!
! means factorial, or the preceeding number multiplied by all the positive integers
that are smaller than the number. 5! = 5 4 3 2 1 = 120.
The sum of any two adjacent elements in a row can be found between them on the
next row. Each row begins and ends with 1

The Sum of the Rows

The sum of the numbers in any row is equal to
2 to the nthpower or 2n, when n is the number
of the row. For example:

20=
21=
22=
23=
24=

1
1+1 = 2
1+2+1 = 4
1+3+3+1 = 8
1+4+6+4+1 = 16

Prime Numbers
If the 1stelement in a row is a prime
number (remember, the 0th element
of every row is 1), all the numbers in
that row (excluding the 1's) are
divisible by it. For example, in row 7
(1 7 21 35 35 21 7 1) 7, 21, and 35
are all divisible by 7.

Hockey Stick Pattern

If a diagonal of numbers of any length is
selected starting at any of the 1's bordering the
sides of the triangle and ending on any number
inside the triangle on that diagonal, the sum of
the numbers inside the selection is equal to the
number below the end of the selection that is
not on the same diagonal itself. If you don't
understand that, look at the drawing.
1+6+21+56 = 84
1+7+28+84+210+462+924 = 1716
1+12 = 13

Magic 11
If a row is made into a single number by
using each element as a digit of the
number (carrying over when an element
itself has more than one digit), the
number is equal to 11 to the nthpower
or 11nwhen n is the number of the row
the multi-digit number was taken from.

Fibonnacci's Sequence
Fibonnacci's Sequence can also be located in Pascal's
Triangle. The sum of the numbers in the consecutive rows
shown in the diagram are the first numbers of the
Fibonnacci Sequence. The Sequence can also be formed in
a more direct way, very similar to the method used to form
the Triangle, by adding two consecutive numbers in the
sequence to produce the next number. The creates the
sequence: 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34, 55,89,144,233, etc . . . .
The Fibonnacci Sequence can be found in the Golden
Rectangle, the lengths of the segments of a pentagram,
and in nature, and it decribes a curve which can be found
in string instruments, such as the curve of a grand piano.
The formula for the nthnumber in the Fibonnacci Sequence
is

Triangular Numbers
Triangular Numbers are just one type
of polygonal numbers. See the
section onPolygonal Numbersfor an
explaination of polygonal and
triangular numbers. The triangular
numbers can be found in the
diagonal starting at row 3 as shown
in the diagram. The first triangular
number is 1, the second is 3, the
third is 6, the fourth is 10, and so on.

Square Numbers
Square Numbers are another type of
Polygonal NumbersThey are found in the same
diagonal as the triangular numbers. A Square Number
is the sum of the two numbers in any circled area in the
diagram. (The colors are different only to distinguish
between the separate "rubber bands"). The nthsquare
number is equal to the nthtriangular number plus the
(n-1)thtriangular number. (Remember, any number
outside the triangle is 0). The interesting thing about
these 4-sided polygonal numbers is that their name
explains them perfectly. The very first square number is
02. The second is 12, the third is 22(4), the fourth is
32(9), and so on.

Sierpinski's Triangle
Connection to Sierpinski's Triangle
When all the odd numbers (numbers not divisible by 2)
in Pascal's Triangle are filled in (black) and the rest
(the evens) are left blank (white), the recursive
Sierpinski Triangle fractal is revealed (see figure at
near right), showing yet another pattern in Pascal's
Triangle. Other interesting patterns are formed if the
elements not divisible by other numbers are filled,
especially those indivisible by prime numbers.Go here
to download programs that calculate Pascal's Triangle
and then use it to create patterns, such as the
detailed, right-angle Sierpinski Triangle at the far right.

Symmetrical
And the triangle is alsosymmetrical.
The numbers on the left side have
identical matching numbers on the
right side, like a mirror image.

Using Pascal's
Triangle

Heads and Tails

Pascal's Triangle can show you how many ways
heads and tails can combine. This can then
show you "the odds" (or probability) of any
combination.
For example, if you toss a coin three times,
there is only one combination that will give you
three heads (HHH), but there are three that will
give two heads and one tail (HHT, HTH, THH),
also three that give one head and two tails
(HTT, THT, TTH) and one for all Tails (TTT). This
is the pattern "1,3,3,1" in Pascal's Triangle.

Polynomials
Pascal's Triangle can also show you
the coefficients in
binomial expansion:

Decorations

Choose any five colors. Assign a different color

to each number and shade
each block on the color
chart accordingly.
(Seeclosure, below.)

Print a blank Pascal Triangle grid from thestudent worksheets page.Color the
top three hexagonscolor 1.(Using black forcolor 1provides a nice outline.)
4.To determine the color of the next row of cells, look at the last row:
if there is only one cell above a cell, make that cell color 1.
if there are two cells above a cell, use the chart to find the color to use.
if the two cells above are both color 1, look at row 1 of column 1 on the chart
for the color to use. It is color 2.
if the two cells above are colors 1 and 2, look at row 1 of column 2: it tells you
to use color 3.

Peta
l cell is surrounded by 6 other
Notice that the gray

cells. These six cells make up the petals on Pascal's

flower.
Starting with the petal above and to the left of the
gray center, alternating petals are colored yellow and
numbered 5, 20, and 21.
The three remaining petals around the chosen center
are colored orange and numbered 6, 10, and 35.
The product of the numbers in the yellow petals is 5 x
20 x 21 = 2100.
The product of the numbers in the orange petals is 6
x 10 x 35 = 2100.

Pizza
How many different 1-topping pizzas can you order when choosing from
among 8 toppings?

You can order 8 different 1-topping pizzas

You can find the answer by listing the 8 possible pizzas, as shown above, or
think: how many different pizza combinations can I make by choosing 1
topping from a set of 8 toppings?
Using Pascal's triangle, find place 1 in row 8: 8 ways. [Remember that the first
number (1) in each row is place 0.]

Now let's try a different approach to the problem. Antonio could have
helped the Pascalini's if he had asked the following questions:

Do you want anchovies?

Do you want extra cheese?
Do you want green peppers?
Do you want mushrooms?
Do you want olives?
Do you want pepperoni?
Do you want sausage?
Do you want tomatoes?

How could this information help you to find the total number of different
pizza combinations that can be ordered?
There are two possible answers to each of the 8 questions, yes or no. We
can express the total possible ways to answer these 8 questions as:
2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 28= 256
Notice that the sum of the entries in the 8th row of Pascal's triangle can
also be expressed as
28= 256

 How many different 7-topping pizza combinations can you order

from
a set of 8 toppings?
You can order 8 different 7-topping pizzas:

You can find this answer by listing the 8 possible pizzas, as shown above,
or think: how many different 7-topping pizza combinations can I make
from a set of 8 toppings?
Using Pascal's triangle, find place 7 in row 8: 8 ways.

 How many different pizza

combinations can you make using 2
toppings?
You can order 28 different pizza
combinations when you choose 2
toppings from a set of 8 toppings

 How is the total possible number of 2-topping pizzas related to

the total possible number of 6-topping pizzas? Why?
When you order a 2-topping pizza, you choose not to use 6
toppings.
When you order a 6-topping pizza, you choose not to use 2
toppings.
The number of possible choices is the same in each case: 28.

Can you find these numbers in Pascal's triangle? Look at row 8: