Square pyramidal number
In mathematics, a pyramid number, or square pyramidal number, is a figurate number that represents the number of stacked spheres in a pyramid with a square base. The square pyramidal numbers can be used to count number of squares in an n × n grid, or acute triangles in an odd regular polygon. They equal the sums of consecutive tetrahedral numbers, and are one-fourth of a larger tetrahedral number. The sum of two consecutive square pyramidal numbers is an octahedral number.
Formula[edit]
The first few square pyramidal numbers are:[1]
These numbers can be expressed in a formula as
In modern mathematics, figurate numbers are formalized by the Ehrhart polynomials. The Ehrhart polynomial L(P,t) of a polyhedron P is a polynomial that counts the number of integer points in a copy of P that is expanded by multiplying all its coordinates by the number t. The Ehrhart polynomial of a pyramid whose base is a unit square with integer coordinates, and whose apex is an integer point at height one above the base plane, is (t + 1)(t + 2)(2t + 3)/6 = Pt + 1.[5]
Geometric enumeration[edit]
A common mathematical puzzle involves finding the number of squares in a large n by n square grid.[6] This number can be derived as follows:
- The number of 1 × 1 boxes found in the grid is n2.
- The number of 2 × 2 boxes found in the grid is (n − 1)2. These can be counted by counting all of the possible upper-left corners of 2 × 2 boxes.
- The number of k × k boxes (1 ≤ k ≤ n) found in the grid is (n − k + 1)2. These can be counted by counting all of the possible upper-left corners of k × k boxes.
It follows that the number of squares in an n × n square grid is:
The square pyramidal number also counts the number of acute triangles formed from the vertices of a -sided regular polygon. For instance, an equilateral triangle contains only one acute triangle (itself), a regular pentagon has five acute golden triangles within it, a regular heptagon has 14 acute triangles of two shapes, etc.[1]
The number of rectangles in a square grid is given by the squared triangular numbers.[8]
Relations to other figurate numbers[edit]

The cannonball problem asks which numbers are both square and square pyramidal. Besides 1, there is only one other number that has this property: 4900, which is both the 70th square number and the 24th square pyramidal number. This fact was proven by G. N. Watson in 1918.[9]
The square pyramidal numbers can be expressed as sums of binomial coefficients:
Square pyramidal numbers are also related to tetrahedral numbers in a different way: the points from four copies of the same square pyramid can be rearranged to form a single tetrahedron of slightly more than twice the edge length. That is,[12]
Other properties[edit]
The alternating series of unit fractions with the square pyramidal numbers as denominators is closely related to the Leibniz formula for π, although it converges more quickly. It is:[13]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Sloane, N. J. A. (ed.), "Sequence A000330 (Square pyramidal numbers)", The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences, OEIS Foundation
- ^ Hopcroft, John E.; Motwani, Rajeev; Ullman, Jeffrey D. (2007), Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages, and Computation (3 ed.), Pearson/Addison Wesley, p. 20, ISBN 9780321455369
- ^ Archimedes, On Conoids and Spheroids, Lemma to Prop. 2, and On Spirals, Prop. 10. See "Lemma to Proposition 2", The Works of Archimedes, translated by T. L. Heath, Cambridge University Press, 1897, pp. 107–109
- ^ Fibonacci (1202), Liber Abaci, ch. II.12. See Fibonacci's Liber Abaci, translated by Laurence E. Sigler, Springer-Verlag, 2002, pp. 260–261, ISBN 0-387-95419-8
- ^ Beck, M.; De Loera, J. A.; Develin, M.; Pfeifle, J.; Stanley, R. P. (2005), "Coefficients and roots of Ehrhart polynomials", Integer Points in Polyhedra—Geometry, Number Theory, Algebra, Optimization, Contemporary Mathematics, 374, Providence, Rhode Island: American Mathematical Society, pp. 15–36, arXiv:math/0402148, MR 2134759
- ^ Duffin, Janet; Patchett, Mary; Adamson, Ann; Simmons, Neil (November 1984), "Old squares new faces", Mathematics in School, 13 (5): 2–4, JSTOR 30216270
- ^ Robitaille, David F. (May 1974), "Mathematics and chess", The Arithmetic Teacher, 21 (5): 396–400, JSTOR 41190919
- ^ Stein, Robert G. (1971), "A combinatorial proof that ", Mathematics Magazine, 44 (3): 161–162, doi:10.2307/2688231, JSTOR 2688231
- ^ Anglin, W. S. (1990), "The square pyramid puzzle", American Mathematical Monthly, 97 (2): 120–124, doi:10.2307/2323911, JSTOR 2323911
- ^ Beiler, A. H. (1964), Recreations in the Theory of Numbers, Dover, pp. 194, ISBN 0-486-21096-0
- ^ Caglayan, Günhan; Buddoo, Horace (September 2014), "Tetrahedral numbers", The Mathematics Teacher, 108 (2): 92–97, doi:10.5951/mathteacher.108.2.0092, JSTOR 10.5951/mathteacher.108.2.0092
- ^ Alsina, Claudi; Nelsen, Roger B. (2015), "Challenge 2.13", A Mathematical Space Odyssey: Solid Geometry in the 21st Century, The Dolciani Mathematical Expositions, 50, Washington, DC: Mathematical Association of America, pp. 43, 234, ISBN 978-0-88385-358-0, MR 3379535
- ^ Fearnehough, Alan (November 2006), "90.67 A series for the 'bit'", Notes, The Mathematical Gazette, 90 (519): 460–461, JSTOR 40378200
Further reading[edit]
- Abramowitz, M.; Stegun, I. A., eds. (1964), Handbook of Mathematical Functions, Applied Math. Series, 55, National Bureau of Standards, pp. 813, ISBN 0-486-61272-4
- Goldoni, G. (2002), "A visual proof for the sum of the first n squares and for the sum of the first n factorials of order two", The Mathematical Intelligencer, 24 (4): 67–69, doi:10.1007/bf03025326