Love For MathCreative Math Education

DIY Challenge 3: Why do the compositions double?

In the previous challenge, many of you have shared a pattern that the Number of compositions is doubling.

The challenge is to explain the reason for the pattern which you observed.

In the following video, I share a systematic way of decomposing numbers, and a hint to why we might be seeing the pattern.

Why are the number of decompositions doubling each time?

What students worked out7

  • Student 11

    Sir I got 17 ways of decomposing 5

    • Student 2

      yeah I am positive that there are only 16 ways

  • Student 4

    What is the 17th way of decomposing 5

  • Student 9

    sir it is because all the numbers except 1 are even
    and they all are dependent on 1

  • Student 9

    Sir we have to add all the numbers before the number you have chosen and then add 1 to it.
    For example;-7->64 = (1+2+4+8+16+32)+1

  • Student 3

    FOR EXAMPLE 5 CAN BE written in all different ways how we have written earlier numbers 1,2,3,4 and one more way that number itself
    so for 5
    (1+2+4+8)+1= 16 ways