tetrahedral

1140 is the 18th Tetrahedral Number

/ ivasallay / Leave a comment

1140 is the 18th tetrahedral number because it satisfies this formula:
(18)(18+1)(18+2)/6 = 1140

It is the 18th tetrahedral number because it is the sum of the first 18 triangular numbers:

Since 18 is an even number, 1140 is the sum of the first 9 EVEN squares.

If the 1140 tiny squares in that graphic were cubes, they could be stacked into a tower with either a triangular base or a square base. Then we would see the beauty of this tetrahedral number.

We can see the number 1140 as well as ALL the previous tetrahedral numbers on this portion of Pascal’s Triangle. (They are the green squares.):

1140 has its place as the 3rd number (as well as the 17th number) on the 20th row of Pascal’s triangle because of this next formula:

Here are some other facts about the number 1140:

  • 1140 is a composite number.
  • Prime factorization: 1140 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 5 × 19, which can be written 1140 = 2² × 3 × 5 × 19
  • The exponents in the prime factorization are 2, 1, 1, and 1. Adding one to each and multiplying we get (2 + 1)(1 + 1)(1 + 1)(1 + 1) = 2 × 3 × 2 × 2 = 24. Therefore 1140 has exactly 24 factors.
  • Factors of 1140: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 19, 20, 30, 38, 57, 60, 76, 95, 114, 190, 228, 285, 380, 570, 1140
  • Factor pairs: 1140 = 1 × 1140, 2 × 570, 3 × 380, 4 × 285, 5 × 228, 6 × 190, 10 × 114, 12 × 95, 15 × 76, 19 × 60, 20 × 57, or 30 × 38,
  • Taking the factor pair with the largest square number factor, we get √1140 = (√4)(√285) = 2√285 ≈ 33.76389

Here are some factor trees that use 11 of 1140’s factor pairs:

1140 is the sum of consecutive prime numbers two different ways:
179 + 181 + 191 + 193 + 197 + 199 = 1140,
569 + 571 = 1140

1140 is the hypotenuse of a Pythagorean triple:
684-912-1140 which is (3-4-5) times 228

1140 looks interesting when it is written in a couple other bases:
It’s palindrome 474 in BASE 16 because 4(16²) + 7(16) + 4(1) = 1140,
and it’s 330 in BASE 19 because 3(19²) + 3(19) = 3(19² + 19) = 3(19)(20) = 1140

969 is the 17th Tetrahedral Number and the 17th Nonagonal Number

/ ivasallay / Leave a comment

A tetrahedron is a pyramid whose base and sides are all triangles.

The nth tetrahedral number is the sum of the first n triangular numbers. So if you made a pyramid of the first n triangular numbers, you would get the nth triangular pyramidal number, also known as the nth tetrahedral number.

969 is the 17th tetrahedral number.

That image might look a little like a Christmas tree lot where you could select a tree in several different sizes. If we had tiny cubes instead of squares, we could stack them on top of each other to make a tetrahedron. That is the visual reason why 969 is a tetrahedron.

Look at the graphic below of a portion of Pascal’s triangle. You can easily see the first 19 counting numbers. The first 18 triangular numbers are highlighted in red, and the first 17 tetrahedral numbers are highlighted in green. The 16th tetrahedral number, 816, plus the 17th triangular number, 153, equals 969.

Because of its spot on Pascal’s triangle, I know that (17·18·19)/(1·2·3) = 969. That is the algebraic reason 969 is a tetrahedral number.

969 is also the 17th nonagonal number because 17(7·17 – 5)/2 = 969. I am not going to try to illustrate a 9-sided figure, but I’m sure it would be a cool image if I could.

All of this means that 969 is the 17th tetrahedral number AND the 17th nonagonal number. 1 is the smallest number to be both a tetrahedral number and a nonagonal number. 969 is the next smallest number to be both. Amazingly, it is the 17th of both, too!

969 obviously is a palindrome in base 10.

In base 20, it is 289. I find that quite curious because 17² = 289, and 17 is a factor of 969. Why would we write this number as 289 in base 20? Because 2(20²) + 8(20) + 9(1) = 969

Because 17 is one of its factors, 969 is the hypotenuse of a Pythagorean triple:
456-855-969 which is 57 times (8-15-17)

  • 969 is a composite number.
  • Prime factorization: 969 = 3 × 17 × 19
  • The exponents in the prime factorization are 1, 1, and 1. Adding one to each and multiplying we get (1 + 1)(1 + 1)(1 + 1) = 2 × 2 × 2 = 8. Therefore 969 has exactly 8 factors.
  • Factors of 969: 1, 3, 17, 19, 51, 57, 323, 969
  • Factor pairs: 969 = 1 × 969, 3 × 323, 17 × 57, or 19 × 51
  • 969 has no square factors that allow its square root to be simplified. √969 ≈ 31.12876