Answer:
10
Step-by-step explanation:
The number of tiles in the design is 1 + 2 + 3 + ...
We can model this as an arithmetic series, where the first term is 1 and the common difference is 1. The sum of the first n terms of an arithmetic series is:
S = n/2 (2a₁ + d (n − 1))
Given that a₁ = 1 and d = 1:
S = n/2 (2(1) + n − 1)
S = n/2 (n + 1)
Since S ≤ 60:
n/2 (n + 1) ≤ 60
n (n + 1) ≤ 120
n must be an integer, so from trial and error:
n ≤ 10
Mr. Tong should use 10 tiles in the final row to use the most tiles possible.
