Staircase

n Steps b Blocks Alias
1 1 wHolt
2 3 wHolt
3 6 wholt
50 1275 Boki
100 5050 Boki
4 10 poovey
5 15 tbird
275 37950 pringle
6 21 slick
7 28 Houdini
8 36 Harkar
9 45 Bravo
10 55 Sunshine
11 66 Superduke
12 78 Melewen
13 91 PAC
14 105 Capricorn
15 120 dirtybird
16 136 Taurus
17 153 BassLady
18 171 Zonino
19 190 Rockclimber
20 210 7Iron
21 231 David
22 253 Phoenix
23 276 joojoo
24 300 Golfgirl
25 325 Tiger
26 351 CenterField
27 378 Fro
28 406 kathi
29 435 soller
30 465 Draco
31 496 Cheana
32 256 *HotrodMinivan
33 561 Trixie
34 595 Bubba

2. SERIES ASSIGNMENT

The drawings above illustrate staircases with one step, two steps, and three steps.
Use the drawings to solve the following problems:
How many blocks are needed to make a staircase with

50 steps?

100 steps?

n steps?

That last question requires a formula that inputs the number of steps and outputs the number of blocks.
If, for example, you put 3 into your formula, it should output 6. This formula should be a polynomial—
not a recursive algortihm.

For 1 point, fill out one row of the table above.
Enter a number of steps that no one else has previously entered.
Then enter the corresponding number of blocks required to make a staircase with that many steps.
Write your alias in the last column.
For 6 more points, send me your formula privately by e-mail.
You can find this formula using the techniques you learned in the sequence assignment.

Comments:

From wHolt - 11/16/06 10:25 AM

Edit the page. Don't copy the table to a comment.

From wHolt - 10/27/06 12:14 AM

Seems to be a disagreement in the table. I like that.
Of course, it is easy to check your formula if you have one.
The formula for this one could be asked for in the RSA assignment.

FILL IN ONLY 1 ROW CORRECTLY!!!

Last Modified 12/14/06 4:09 PM

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