Mary Beth K. answered • 04/18/19
Twenty-six years of teaching and tutoring; love it or leave it
When you look at the first two numbers you might see 2 possible solutions: multiply by 3 or add 8. Both of these would work since 4 x 3 = 12 and 4 + 8 = 12. However, 12 x 3 does not equal 28 so the "times 3" solution does not work. When one adds 12 + 8, it equals 20 and we need 28. We are stuck until we see that if we add another 8, we arrive at 28. So far, we have added 8 and then 16. Now we need to see if we should add another 8 which would give us the pattern of add 8, add 16, add 24, add 32, etc. or double 8 and add 16, double 16 and add 32, double 32 and add 64. When you try both of these solutions, you will find that the double and add solution is the one that works.
