Question 39
Context: Consider the pattern made of square tiles in the picture below.
Q. Write an algebraic expression for the number of tiles in Step . Share your methods with the class. Can you find more than one method to arrive at the answer?

We will find an algebraic expression for the number of tiles in Step by observing the pattern.
Step 1 — Observe the pattern
Let us count the number of pink tiles in each step shown in the diagram. In Step 1, we see a square with a hole in the middle. The number of tiles is . In Step 2, we see a square with a hole in the middle. The number of tiles is . In Step 3, we see a square with a hole in the middle. The number of tiles is .
Let be the number of tiles in Step . We have , , . We notice that the number of tiles increases by 4 in each step.

Step 2 — Method 1: Using areas
We can think of the pattern as a large square with a smaller square removed from its center. Let be the step number. In Step , the side length of the outer square is units. In Step , the side length of the inner (removed) square is units. The number of tiles is the area of the outer square minus the area of the inner square. So, the number of tiles is given by:
We can expand using the algebraic identity .
Let us check this formula for the first few steps. For : . For : . For : . These values match our observations.
Step 3 — Method 2: Counting tiles by sections
We can also count the tiles by looking at the four sides of the square frame. Let be the step number. In Step , the outer square has a side length of tiles. The top row has tiles. The bottom row also has tiles. The left column has tiles, but we have already counted the top and bottom corner tiles. So, the left column has tiles that are not yet counted. Similarly, the right column has tiles that are not yet counted. The total number of tiles is the sum of tiles in these four sections:
This method also gives the same algebraic expression.
Answer
The algebraic expression for the number of tiles in Step is:
(i)
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