As you observed, the nth term is the sum of the first n squares. 1 = 1² 5 = 1²+2² 14 = 1²+2²+3² 30 = 1²+2²+3²+4² So the nth term is 1²+2²+3²+...+n² That should be related to the sum 1+2+3+...+n 1+2+3+...+n is the sum of an arithmetic series with a1=1 and d=1 Using the formula for the sum of the an arithmetic series to n terms: 1+2+3+...+n =or Let's divide each term of our sequence by the sum of the first n natural numbers, and see if we get a recognizable pattern: 1/(1) = 1 5/(1+2) = 5/3 14/(1+2+3) = 14/6 = 7/3 30/(1+2+3+4) = 30/10 = 3 Now if we write 1 as 3/3 and 3 and 9/3 we do have a recognizable pattern 3/3, 5/3, 7/3, 9/3, ... The numerators go 3,5,7,9,... each of which is 1 more than 2,4,6,8,... which has nth term 2n So 3,5,7,9, has nth term 2n+1 So 3/3, 5/3, 7/3, 9/3 has nth term (2n+1)/3 Since we got that sequence by DIVIDING our sequence by the sums of the first n natural numbers, the nth term of our sequence is gotten by MULTIPLYING those two nth terms. So the nth ordered pair is given by the equation: or Edwin