Relate Matchstick Patterns to Number Sequences

Matchstick problems are easy ways to create number sequences.

Look at this sequence of three matchstick patterns.

Count the number of matchsticks in each pattern to get the following results:

Pattern 1:  4 matchsticks

Pattern 2:  7 matchsticks

Pattern 3  10 matchsticks

Notice that the number of matchsticks increases by 3 each time.

This is because we are adding this shape each time:

We can therefore predict the following:

Pattern 4: 13 matchsticks

Pattern 5: 16 matchsticks

Pattern 6: 19 matchsticks

Let's get started!