Question 16
Choose three consecutive numbers, square the middle one, and subtract the product of the other two. Repeat the same with other sets of numbers. What pattern do you notice? How do we write this as an algebraic equation? Expand both sides of the equation to check that it is a true identity.
- For any three consecutive integers, let the middle number be , the preceding number be , and the succeeding number be .
- We investigate the expression: .
- By testing specific numerical examples, we observe the pattern, formulate it as an algebraic equation, and prove it algebraically using the difference of squares identity .
Step 1 · Explore the Pattern with Numerical Examples

Case 1: Numbers
Case 2: Numbers
Case 3: Numbers
Pattern observed: The result is always .
Step 2 · Write the Algebraic Equation
Let the middle number be . Then the three consecutive numbers are , , and .
- Square of the middle number
- Product of the other two numbers
Equating the difference to the observed pattern gives the algebraic equation:
Step 3 · Expand and Verify the Identity
Using the identity , where and :
Expanding the Left Hand Side (LHS):
Since , the equation is a true identity.
- Pattern: The result is always .
- Algebraic Equation:
- Verification: Expanding , confirming it is a true identity.
- Distributing the Negative Sign: Forgetting to enclose in parentheses when subtracting, resulting in instead of .
- Non-consecutive Numbers: Applying the rule to non-consecutive numbers (such as ), where the difference of squares gives , which is (where is the common difference) rather than .
More questions in FIO
Observe the multiplication grid below. Each number inside the grid is formed by multiplying two numbers. If the middle number of a frame is given by the expression , as shown in the figure, write the expressions for the other numbers in the grid.
Expand the following products.
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
(vi)
Find 3 examples where the product of two numbers remains unchanged when one of them is increased by 2 and the other is decreased by 4.
Expand:
(i)
(ii)
Expand:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
Do you see a pattern? What would be the next identity in the pattern that you see? Can you check it by expanding?
Which is greater: or ? Justify your answer.
Express 100 as the difference of two squares.
Find , , , , and using the identities you have learnt so far.
Do Patterns 1 and 2 hold only for counting numbers? Do they hold for negative integers as well? What about fractions? Justify your answer.
Compute these products using the suggested identity.
(i) using Identity 1A for
(ii) using Identity 1C for
(iii) using Identity 1B for
(iv) using Identity 1C for
Use either a suitable identity or the distributive property to find each of the following products.
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
(vi)
For each statement identify the appropriate algebraic expression(s).
(i) Two more than a square number.
(ii) The sum of the squares of two consecutive numbers
Consider any 2 by 2 square of numbers in a calendar, as shown in the figure.
Find products of numbers lying along each diagonal — , . Do this for the other 2 by 2 squares. What do you observe about the diagonal products? Explain why this happens.
Hint: Label the numbers in each 2 by 2 square as shown in the diagram.
Verify which of the following statements are true.
(i) is always 2.
(ii) is a multiple of 4.
(iii) Squares of even numbers are multiples of 4, and squares of odd numbers are 1 more than multiples of 8.
(iv) is 5 less than a square number.
A number leaves a remainder of 3 when divided by 7, and another number leaves a remainder of 5 when divided by 7. What is the remainder when their sum, difference, and product are divided by 7?
Choose three consecutive numbers, square the middle one, and subtract the product of the other two. Repeat the same with other sets of numbers. What pattern do you notice? How do we write this as an algebraic equation? Expand both sides of the equation to check that it is a true identity.
What is the algebraic expression describing the following steps—add any two numbers. Multiply this by half of the sum of the two numbers? Prove that this result will be half of the square of the sum of the two numbers.
Which is larger? Find out without fully computing the product.
(i) or
(ii) or
A tiny park is coming up in Dhauli. The plan is shown in the figure. The two square plots, each of area , will have a green cover. All the remaining area is a walking path wide that needs to be tiled. Write an expression for the area that needs to be tiled.
For each pattern shown below,
(i) Draw the next figure in the sequence. (ii) How many basic units are there in Step 10? (iii) Write an expression to describe the number of basic units in Step .