• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
Fibonacci Numbers, the Golden section and the Golden String
Fibonacci Numbers and the Golden Section
This is the Home page for the Fibonacci numbers, the Golden section and the Golden string.

The Fibonacci numbers are 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, ...(add the last two to get the next)
The golden section numbers are \u00b10\u00b761803 39887... and \u00b11\u00b761803 39887...
The golden string is 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 ...

a sequence of 0s and 1s which is closely related to the Fibonacci numbers and the golden section.
There is a large amount of information at this site (more than 200 pages if it was printed), so if all
you want is a quick introductionthen the first link takes you to an introductory page on the Fibonacci
numbers and where they appear in Nature.
The rest of this page is a brief introduction to all the web pages at this site on
Fibonacci Numbersthe Golden Section and the Golden String
together with their many applications.
What's New?
7 June 2001
A recent back-up error means that I've just lost all emails sent to me during March and April.
Please can you re-send your email if you've had no reply - sorry!
Fibonacci Numbers and Golden sections in Nature
Fibonacci Numbers and Nature

Fibonacci and the original problem about rabbits where the series first appears, the
family trees of cows and bees, the golden ratio and the Fibonacci series, the
Fibonacci Spiral and sea shell shapes, branching plants, flower petal and seeds,
leaves and petal arrangements, on pineapples and in apples, pine cones and leaf
arrangements. All involve the Fibonacci numbers - and here's how and why.

The Golden section in Nature
Continuing the theme of the first page but with specific reference towhy the golden
http://www.mcs.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fib.html (1 of 8) [12/06/2001 17:11:49]
Fibonacci Numbers, the Golden section and the Golden String
section appears in nature.
Now with a Geometer's Sketchpad dynamic
demonstration.
The Puzzling World of Fibonacci Numbers
A pair of pages with plenty of playful problems to perplex the professional and the part-
time puzzler!

The Easier Fibonacci Puzzles page
has the Fibonacci numbers in brick wall patterns, Fibonacci bee lines, seating
people in a row and the Fibonacci numbers again, giving change and a game with
match sticks and even with electrical resistance and lots more puzzles all involve
the Fibonacci numbers!

The Harder Fibonacci Puzzles page
still has problems where the Fibonacci numbers are the answers - well, all but ONE,
but WHICH one? If you know the Fibonacci Jigsaw puzzle where rearranging the 4
wedge-shaped pieces makes an additional square appear, did you know thesame
puzzle can be rearranged to make a different shape where a square nowdisappears?
For these puzzles, I do not know of any simple explanations ofwhy the Fibonacci
numbers occur - and that's the real puzzle - can you supply a simple reason

why??
The Intriguing Mathematical World of Fibonacci and Phi
The golden section numbers are also written using the greek letters Phi and phi .
The Mathematical Magic of the Fibonacci numbers

looks at the patterns in the Fibonacci numbers themselves, the Fibonacci
numbers in Pascal's Triangle and using Fibonacci series to generate all right-
angled triangles with integers sides based on Pythagoras Theorem.
Impress your friends with a simple Fibonacci numbers trick!
There are many investigations for you to do to find patterns for yourself as
well as a complete list of...

The first 500 Fibonacci numbers...
completely factorised up to Fib(300) and all the prime Fibonacci
numbers are identified.
A Formula for the Fibonacci numbers
Is there a direct formula to compute Fib(n) just from n? Yes there is!
http://www.mcs.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fib.html (2 of 8) [12/06/2001 17:11:49]
Fibonacci Numbers, the Golden section and the Golden String
This page shows several and why they involve Phi and phi - the
golden section numbers.
Fibonacci bases and other ways of representing integers

We use base 10 (decimal) for written numbers but computers use
base 2 (binary). What happens if we use the Fibonacci numbers as the
column headers?

The Golden Section - the Number and Its Geometry

The golden section is also called the golden ratio, the golden mean and the
divine proportion. It is closely connected with the Fibonacci series and has a
value of (5- 1)/2 which is 0\u00b761803... which we call phi on these pages. It
has some interesting properties such as 1/phi is the same as 1+phi and we
call this value Phi= (5 + 1)/2.

Two pages are devoted to its applications in Geometry - first in flat (or two
dimensional) geometry and then in the solid geometry of three dimensions.
Fantastic Flat Phi Facts

See some of the unexpected places that the golden section (Phi)
occurs in Geometry and in Trigonometry: pentagons and decagons,
paper folding and Penrose Tilings where we phind phi phrequently!

The Golden Geometry of the Solid Section or Phi in 3 dimensions

The golden section occurs in the most symmetrical of all the three-
dimensional solids - the Platonic solids. What are the best shapes for
fair dice? Why are there only 5?

The next pages are about the number Phi = 1\u00b761803.. itself and its close
cousin phi = 0\u00b761803... .
Phi's Fascinating Figures - the Golden Section number

All the powers of Phi are just whole multiples of itself plus another
whole number. Did you guess that these multiplesand the whole
numbers are, of course, the Fibonacci numbers again? Each power of
Phi is the sum of the previous two - just like the Fibonacci numbers
too.

Introduction to Continued Fractions An optional page that
expands on the idea of a continued fraction introduced in the Phi's
Fascinating Figures page.
http://www.mcs.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fib.html (3 of 8) [12/06/2001 17:11:49]
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...