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The Wonders of Pascal

Blaise Pascal was born on June 19, 1623 in Clermont-Ferrand, France. He was a mathematician famous for discovering Pascal’s Triangle and Pascal’s Wager. Pascal is one of the most famous mathematicians today.

This is Pascal’s triangle. It is a special triangle. You probably know already that the way this triangle works is that two numbers will always add up to the number below them. But there are a few things you may not know- for example- take the number 15 on the left side of the triangle. Now look at all the numbers around it. Clockwise, starting from 5, they are 5, 10, 20, 35, 21, and 6. Notice that the 5, 20, and 21 form an equilateral triangle and so does 10, 35, and 6. 5x20x21=2100. 10x35x6=2100. They all multiply up to the same number. This works for every number on the triangle.

Among the other fun properties of the Pascal’s Triangle is the square numbers. Look at the third row down, starting at 1 and following 3, 6, 10, 15, 21, and so on. 1+3=4. 3+6=9. 6+10=16. 10+15=25. Notice that all of these are square numbers.