Examine the following sequence 1, 4, 9, 16, 25…. why is 36 the next number in the sequence? because the pattern is:
a.
add the next even number
c.
cube the number of the term, n
b.
square the number of the term, n
d.
add 2 + the number of the term, n

The answer is "Square the number of the term, n"

Notice the pattern
1^2 = 1*1 = 1
2^2 = 2*2 = 4
3^2 = 3*3 = 9
4^2 = 4*4 = 16
5^2 = 5*5 = 25
6^2 = 6*6 = 36
the pattern goes on forever

In general, if n is any number then we have n^2 = n*n as the term
Ie, nth term is n^2

In our case, the next term is the 6th term with n = 6, so n^2 = 36