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tetrahedral number
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(Definition)
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An integer of the form $${{(n^2 + n)(n + 2)} \over 6},$$ where $n$ is a nonnegative integer. Sometimes referred to as $T_n$ , tetrahedral numbers are listed in A000292 of Sloane's OEIS. $2|T_n$ except when $n \equiv 1 \mod 4$ .
With $t_n$ the $n$ th triangular number, the $n$ th tetrahedral number can be calculated with this formula: $$T_n = \sum_{i = 1}^n t_i.$$ Another way to calculate tetrahedral numbers is with the binomial coefficient $$T_n={n+2\choose3}.$$ This means that tetrahedral numbers can be looked up in Pascal's triangle.
Tetrahedral numbers have practical applications in sphere packing.
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"tetrahedral number" is owned by PrimeFan. [ owner history (1) ]
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| Other names: |
triangular pyramidal number |
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Cross-references: sphere, applications, Pascal's triangle, binomial coefficient, calculate, formula, triangular number, OEIS, integer
There is 1 reference to this entry.
This is version 4 of tetrahedral number, born on 2006-06-02, modified 2008-08-13.
Object id is 7952, canonical name is TetrahedralNumber.
Accessed 2653 times total.
Classification:
| AMS MSC: | 11A99 (Number theory :: Elementary number theory :: Miscellaneous) |
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Pending Errata and Addenda
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