ISOSCELES

TRIANGLE , Golden Triangle, Fibonacci Series, Great Pyramid of Giza and Tilings Dr N K Srinivasan

Introduction This math tutorial is designed to take you through all these topics and show how some excellent math relationships are used in real life. I will show you why the Great Pyramid of Giza ia slanted at an angle of nearly 52 degrees [51.83 degrees to be exact.] You will also learn a bit of trigonometry , if you have not learnt or used it much so far.

What is an isosceles triangle? To recall your middle school geometry, "Isosceles triangle" is a triangle in which two sides are of equal length. If we construct a triangle ABC with AB = AC, and the base BC not equal to AB or AC , we have an isosceles triangle.

We will call the vertex A as the apex and BC as the base. I will ask you to draw or make construction as we go along in a paper. Keep a paper ,rule, protractor snd an eraser ready!

Isosceles Right Triangle We will begin with a very simple isosceles triangle. Draw a square of side, say 3 inches ;call it square ABCD. Draw one of the diagonals ,say AC. Now you have made two 'congruent' right triangles with two sides equal. The sides are ,of course 3 inches, with 90 degrees and the hypotenuse is the diagonal which will be: AC = 2 x 3 [Square root I will write as follows: sqrt(2) in future.]

Some Properties of Isosceles triangles. You can call these properties ' theorems' as your geometry text book will state. I just call them

'properties'. 1 The base angles of an isosceles triangle are equal . If you have drawn a triangle with A as the apex and AB = AC, and BC as the base, then angle ABC = angle ACB. If the apex angle is 36 degrees, the base angles are: (1/2)[180 -36] = 72 degrees. 2 Draw the altitude or height of the triangle AD from the apex A to the base. You will notice that D is the midpoint of the base BC or BD = DC. [Since AD is also perpendicular to BC, we say that AD is the 'perpendicular bisector' of base BC.] Now you have divided the triangle into two congruent right triangles,ABD and ACD--- with the same legs and hypotenuses AB and AC. You will also find that you have bisected the apex angle: angle BAD = angle CAD. These two properties are the main ones required for your work ahead.

Golden Triangle Construct a triangle as follows: --Draw a line BC of length say 5 inches. --- Find the midpoint and erect a prependicular line. --- Using a protractor, draw the lines BA and CA enclosing an angle of 72 degrees with the base line BC. The Apex A is now located by you. ---- Measure the apex angle. [It should be close to 36 degrees...no surprise here because the apex angle = 180 - 72 - 72 = 36. Now you have constructed a "Golden triangle" with 36-72-72 angles.

Now we can find some interesting properties of this "G Triangle". ---Measure the distances BA and CA. They are equal. Find the ratio of BA/BC. You will find that it is equal to [nearly] 1.618 [or 1.62] which is called the "Golden Ratio" --usually written as "Phi". Note that 1/Phi = 1/1.618 = 0.618. { Actually Phi is an irrational number but we take it as

1.618 for our calculations...]

Golden Ratio What is this "Golden Ratio"? You might have read that the Greeks were fascinated by this ratio. They had a great sense of beauty or aesthetics for nice buildings and sculptures and the ratio of width to height of the buildings they would like to construct with this golden ratio --- such as Parthenon in Athens that the ratio of height to width = h/w = 1.618. You must know that this fascination for "golden ratio" was found in earlier civilizations too...the Sumerians and the Egyptians did use this ratio as well.

Draw a line AB and locate a point C between A and B such that AC/BC = AB/AC .-----------------------X----------------. A C B This ratio would be the Golden ratio or golden section. If we call AC = a and BC= b, it follows: a/b = (a+b)/a = 1 + (b/a) If we call a/b = x, we get x = 1+ (1/x) or x = (1+x)/x Simplifying we get : x2 = 1+x or x2 -x -1 =0 We shall return to this equation later. X is the 'Golden Ratio'.

Fibonacci Series Fibonacci was an Italian mathematician, much later in 13th Century, who studied the number of rabbits born from one generation to the next...these numbers form an interesting sequence or series.

You can build up the sequence very easily: Start with 0 and 1; add the previous two numbers: 0+1 = 1 1+1 = 2 2+1 =3 3+2 = 5 5+3 = 8 8+5 = 13

13+8=21 21+13=34 ----- and so on. The numbers get bigger and bigger and animal farmers know pretty well that rabbits breed vary fast! Let us write out a formula for this series: F(n+2) = F (n+1) + F (n) This means that the n+2 term is the sum of the previous two terms ,namely (n+1) term and n th term.
While these numbers keep growing , the ratio of two consequent numbers reaches a limit --- This is called 'convergence' of a series. Let us write the Fibonacci series first for ease of calculations: 0,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89, 144 ....... Take the ratio of two consecutive numbers: 8/5 = 1.6

13/8 = 1.625 --------- 55/34 = 1.6176 89/55 = 1.6181818 144/89 = 1.61797 You can see now that the ratio 'converges' to 1.618. This number is the Golden Ratio = 'Phi' = 1.61803..... Nature seems to use this Fibo sequence in several growth patterns--such as petals of flowers. You may like to read about them in other essays.

Golden Ratio and Algebra You may be familiar with 'solving quadratic equations' using strange formulas and getting 'roots' of equations. Take the equation given earlier for the Golden Ratio: x2 - x -1 =0 You cannot solve this equation by factorizing. So we use the well-known 'Quadratic Formula': If ax2 + bx + c =0,then then x = [-b +/- Sqrt( b.b - 4ac)]/2

In the equation given above, a=1 b=-1 c=-1. The roots are : x = [1+/-sqrt(5)]/2 = 1.6180 = Phi Taking the positive root , we get phi = (1 + 5 )/ 2. Note that sqrt(5) is an irrational number: find this number from your calculator!: sqrt(5) = 2.236079.....= 2.236 (nearly) Phi = 3.236...../2 = 1.618033988...... We got the Golden Ratio by solving this equation. To understand this equation, let us note that Phi2 =1 + Phi or Phi2 - Phi = 1 or Phi2 - Phi - 1 =0 This is the equation we started with x replacing Phi . [You may like to remember this important relation about the Golden Ratio, Phi: 1 + Phi = Phi2 Dividing by phi: 1/phi + 1 = phi or 1/phi = phi-1 = 0.618 Golden Ratio and Continued Fraction There is an elegant and simple way of getting the Golden

ratio. Let us write the continued fraction only with "1"s: R = 1 + 1/ 1+1/ 1+ 1/ ....and so on. How to solve this? This fraction ,repeated or continued to infinity, appears bizarre and intractable..Not really. It is extremely simple: Note that the left side expression can also be written in terms of 'R" : R = 1 + 1 /R Multiplying by R , we get: R2 = R + 1 which is the same as the equation we have for phi; So: R = Phi = 1.618...

Golden Ratio and Golden triangle We started with the Golden triangle --an isosceles triangle with angles 36-72-72. We have to tie up this to Golden ratio and then move on to construction of 'Pentagons'. In the golden triangle, simply called G-T, we have an

apex angle of 36 degrees and the height AD divides the base BC into BD and CD. Look up the trigonometric tables or your calculator. Sin (18 deg) = 0.3090 In the G-T, the half of apex angle is 18 degrees. So, sin (18) = BD/AB or Sin 18 = CD/AC Note that AB= AC and BD =CD cos(36) = 0.809 2cos(pi/5) = 2 cos(36) = 1.618 Cos(72)= 0.309 = BD/AB or BC/AB = 0.618 = 1/phi Now you see the connection between golden triangle and golden ratio. In a Golden triangle, the ratio of AB / BC = Phi .

Golden triangle repeated again! Once you draw a golden triangle, you can repeat that easily inside that triangle. Draw again a golden triangle ABC with apex A and the base BC. The base angles are 72 degrees. Bisect the angle ABC so that the angle bisector meets AC at D.

Now you have created one more G-Tri: Triangle BDC, with 36 at the apex B and angle BDC =72. Now you have also created one more triangle which is an isosceles triangle : triangle ABD with an obtuse angle of 108 and two base angles of 36 degrees. This triangle we will call flat triangle , because it has obtuse angle of 108. Both these triangles ,36-72-72 triangle and 108-36-36 triangle, we will use for constructing Pentagons and nice tiles.These two triangles become the building blocks for our further work.We will call 36-72-72 thick triangle and 108-36-36 a flat triangle or thin triangle. You can bisect the angle ACB and let the bisector meet BD at E. You have formed one more smaller G-T inside triangle BCD. Golden rectangle As a simple exercise, you can draw a 'golden rectangle using two consecutive numbers in the Fibo series.

A 'Golden Rectangle' with sides 34 x 55. The ratio is 55/34.[You can draw a rectangle with 3.4 in x 5.5 in. ] It is claimed that many artists used such rectangles within their paintings as inner frames...See articles on "Last Supper' by Leonardo da Vinci. Pentagon,Pentagram A regular pentagon is a figure with five equal sides and an internal angle of 108. A pentagon arises from the Golden triangle and also has golden ratio embedded in it. Draw a pentagon or five pointed star or copy from a book or copy from the logo of Chrystler car or from the figure given here.

Pentagram
Mark the five corners or vertices of the pentagon as A,B,C,D and E in clock-wise rotation. Draw the diagonals from A, that is, AC and AD. Measure the ratio diagonal/side : AC/AB . You will find that the ratio of side: diagonal = 1 : 1.618 = 1 : phi. You will find that the internal angle of 108 arises from the little isosceles triangle with 108-36-36 near A. Pentagon is found in nature in some flowers and vegetables ,but you find the figure also incorporated

in man-made buildings such as the Pentagon , the Department of Defense building ,in Washington D C. You can draw easily pentagrams for fun . Some use pentagon with mystic meanings----those groups like neo-pagans and free masons! Some use pentagon as a logo for peace activities.

A Golden right triangle Johannes Kepler ,the famous astronomer,was very interested in Golden Ratio that he devised a right triangle using this ratio. You know already that 1 + phi = (phi)2 Using the Pythagorian theorem, we can construct a right triangle with the three sides in the ratio: 1 : sqrt(phi) : phi. You can draw a triangle with legs 3in and (3x1.272 = )3.82 in and find the hypotenuse to be (3x 1.618x1.618) = 7.85 in. This triangle is called a "Kepler triangle". Now what would be the sloping angle of this right triangle, say alpha ?:

tan(alpha) = sqrt(phi)/1 = 1.272. Look up a trig table or use a calculator to find the angle alpha: It is 51.8 degrees or pretty close to 52 degrees. Keep this number in mind when we discuss the pyramids.

Kepler triangle
Great Pyramid at Giza. Consider the pyramid at Giza ---with a square base and sloping sides...We have a right triangle there...formed by the height, half the side at the base and the sloping line from the top of the pyramid to the base line. There is a controversy here. Some scholars believe that this triangle is the same as the Kepler triangle and that the Egyptians knew about the Golden ratio and used it. The sloping angle is about 52 degrees....

But this can be explained by the simpler 3:4:5 triple for a right triangle as well....[Note that the height of the pyramid had been altered due to the top portion being broken or modified over the years; so the height could vary a bit.] If you take the legs in the ratio of 3:4, then tan(alpha)= 4/3 = 1.33 and tan 53 =1.327...pretty close!

There is a possibility that the Egyptians used the Golden ratio triangle (a Kepler triangle) for constructing the pyramid or just the simpler 3-4-5 right

triangle! Log spiral and Golden Spiral [ You may skip this section if the math is found too tough or unfamiliar to you.] A logarithmic spiral follows the polar equation: r = a eb
where theta is the angle in polar coordiantes. and a and b are constants.

As theta increase from 0 to 2 pi, r increase exponentially , sweeping a large area. If b is chosen such that b = ln (phi)/ 90 [for degrees], we get a Golden spiral. [Note that the Archimedes spiral is somewhat simpler , following the polar equation: r = k .] By repeated construction of golden triangles within a single golden triangle, we can generate this spiral.Note that in each step, you are bisecting a 72 deg angle corner of the triangle. In Nature, one finds many beautiful illustrations of log

spirals---nautilus [mollusk] shells, spiral galaxies, sun flower heads. the approach of an insect towards a light source and the nerves of cornea in the eye. Another instance of log spiral is the path of a charged particle in a magnetic filed perpendicular to it---in a cyclotron. Here I give the familiar picture of M51 'Whirlpool' Spiral Galaxy.

M 51 Spiral Galaxy -- A log spiral

Penrose Tiling
Golden rhombuses You can construct a rhombus by placing the bases of two isosceles triangles together. Draw a rhombus for the golden triangle with 36-72-72 angles.You obtain a rhombus with the angles 36-144-36-144 . Draw another rhombus with the flat triangle -- 108-36-36 angles.You obtain a rhombus with the angles

72-108-72-108. [ Make several small cut-outs of these triangles which we will use later.] These are called 'Golden rhombuses' which can be used to make nice patterns.

Tessallation and Penrose tiling Now we come to the fascinating topic of forming tiling pattern using pentagon like five-fold rotational symmetry. We can use golden triangles of 36-72-72 angles and also flat triangles with 108-36-36 angles. Form rhombuses as explained in the previous section. By juxtapositioning of these rhombuses you can cover a 2 dimensional space or form tiled floor or carpets. You get very beautiful patterns .Study the figures of these tiles and after a few trials, you will get the hang of placing the rhombuses in a proper arrangement. This 5-fold symmetry was considered impossible till Roger Penrose, a Mathematics Professor at Oxford University ,UK developed such 'tiles' in 1974 ,called

aperiodic tiling. [Incidentally Roger Penrose had collaborated with Stephen Hawking on theoretical physics/astrophysics too.] Prof Penrose patented the tile pattern in UK,USA and Japan. Please look up these Penrose tile color pictures. [See " Penrose Tiling" in the Mathematics Portal of May 2009,selected as 'picture of the month", in Internet,shown above.] You can constuct nice quilts or wall hangings with Penrose tiling. [Note 1: Girih tiles in an Islamic mosque in Isfahan,Iran, built in 1453, contain some aperiodic Penrose tiling patterns. This was discovered by Peter J Lu of Harvard University. Note 2: Certain 3-dimensional crystals show five fold symmetry like Penrose tiles do in 2 dimensions and these are called 'Quasi crystals" or Fibonacci crystals--originally discovered by Dan Shechtman in 1984 in an aluminum alloy . The compound Al Mn6 present in this alloy had this quasi-crystalline structure. Shechtman got Nobel prize in Chemistry in 2011== for the

discovery of quasi crystals .] Try experimenting with golden triangles,rhombuses and tiles and 3 D objects and have fun! How to construct a Penrose tiling? First make drawings of the two rhombuses,called thick and thin ones,using the two triangles, namely 36-72-72 (thick)and 108-36-36 (thin).[or using 'dart' and 'kite' proto-tiles suggested by Martin Gardner.] Step 2 : Make cut outs of these rhombus using a cardboard sheet; you can use the cereal boxes as convenient cardboard sheets.Make at least 30 of each kind of rhombuses.[Some websites give templates for these rhombuses; you can print out and cut them with paper cutters or photo shears.] Step3. Colour the rhombus differently: red color for thick one and blue for thin one or use color sheets. Step 4 : Try to arrange them with pentagon like figure at the center or some other arrangement ; Several clever methods have been devised .See some of the websites for guidance.

Step 5 If you have arrived at a pleasing design,you can take a photograph and then transfer the pieces to another heavier cardboard or plastic or plywood sheet and paste them with glue for a wall hanging or framing. Step 6 You may also study " Pentagrid method " which was developed by Nicolaas de Bruijn and available in websites.

Artists and the Golden ratio Did Leonardo Da Vinci use the golden ratio while painting " Mona Lisa" or " The Last Supper" ? Did Seurat use this ratio extensively? Some art historians and analysts think so. Explore further to form your opinion!

References MARIO LIVIO -- Phi-the golden ratio... MARTIN GARDNER ---- Penrose tiles to Trapdoor ciphers--the mathematical association of America ,,1997