What Is a Recursive Pattern in Math?

By Staff WriterLast Updated March 27, 2020

In mathematics, a recursive pattern is a series of numbers that follow a predictable pattern from one number to the next. Knowing a part of the series as well as the pattern, makes it simple to calculate as many further numbers in the series as desired.

The numbers in a recursive sequence build off of each other, which is why they must be determined one at a time, and you can’t determine the 100th number without first knowing the 99th and numbers before it. A famous example of a recursive sequence is the Fibonacci sequence, where each number is equal to the two before it being added together.