Nature of Mathematics

Patterns and Numbers in Nature and the World

Patterns –
• these are regular, repeated, or recurring forms or designs.
• Patterns in nature are visible regularities of form found in the natural world, can also be seen in the universe.
• Patterns recurring in different context can sometimes be modelled mathematically.

◦ Man has developed a formal system of thought for recognizing, classifying and exploiting patterns which we
called MATHEMATICS.
◦ By applying mathematics to organize and systematize ideas about patterns, we have discovered patterns in
nature.
◦ Nature patterns which are not just to be admired, they are vital clues to the rules that govern natural processes.
◦ Patterns possess utility a well as beauty and once we have learned to recognize a background pattern, we can
immediately appreciate it.
◦ Patterns indicate a sense of structure and organization that its seems only humans are capable of producing
these intricate, creative, and amazing formations. It is from this perspective that some people see an
“INTELLIGENT DESIGN” in the way that nature forms.
◦ What’s the importance of studying patterns? It helps students in identifying relationship and finding logical
connections to form generalizations and make predictions.

What is the missing figure?

What is the missing figure?

SYMMETRY
◦ Indicates that you can draw an imaginary line across an object and the resulting parts are mirror images of each
other.

Starfish with 5-fold Spiderwort with 3-fold Leonardo da Vinci’s Snowflakes

symmetry symmetry Vitruvian Man showing the
proportions and symmetry
of the human body
Honeycombs
Structure and shape of honeycomb

It enables the bee colony to maximize their storage of honey using the smallest amount of wax.

◦ Translating this idea to 3-dimensional space, we can conclude that hexagonal formations are more optimal in
making use of the available space. These are referred to as packing problems.
◦ Packing problems involve finding the optimum method of filling up a given space such as a cubic or spherical
container. The bees have instinctively found the best solution, evident in the hexagonal construction of their hives.
These are geometric patterns are not only simple and beautiful but also optimally functional.

Illustration: Suppose we have circles of radius 1 cm, each of which will then have an area of _____ sq cm. We are then
going to fill a plane with each circles using square packing and hexagonal packing.

For square packing, each square will have an area of _____ sq cm. From the figure for each
square, it can only fit one circle (4 quarters). The percentage of square’s area covered by
circles will be
area of the circles sq cm
100%  100%  ___%
area of the square sq cm

For hexagonal packing, we can think of each hexagon as composed of six equilateral triangles with side equal to 2 cm.
The are of each triangle is given by A = ______. This gives the the area of the hexagon as
_____sq cm.

Looking at the left figure, how many circles could fit inside one hexagon? The percentage of
the hexagon’s area covered by the circles will be

area of the circles sq cm

100%  100%  ___%
area of the hexagon sq cm

World Population

Mathematics can be used to model population growth. Recall that the formula for exponential growth is 𝐴 = 𝑃𝑒 𝑟𝑡 ,
where 𝐴 is the size of the population after it grows, 𝑃 is the initial number of people, 𝑟 is the rate of growth and 𝑡 is
time.
Sample Problem:
The exponential growth model 𝐴 = 50𝑒 0.07𝑡 describes the population of a city in the Philippines in thousands, 𝑡 years
after 1997.
a. What is the populations after 20 years?
b. What is the population in 2037?

Exercise:

◦ Determine what comes next in the given patterns

1. A, C, E, G, I, ____.
2. 15, 10, 14, 10, 13, 10, _____.
3. 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96, _____.
4. 27, 30, 33, 36, 39, _____.
5. 41, 39, 37, 35, 33, _____.
◦ Substitute the given to the formula 𝐴 = 𝑃𝑒 𝑟𝑡 , to find the missing quantity
1. 𝑃 = 680,000; 𝑟 = 12% 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟; 𝑡 = 8 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠
2. 𝐴 = 1,240,000; 𝑟 = 8% 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟; 𝑡 = 30 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠
3. 𝐴 = 786,000; 𝑃 = 247,000; 𝑡 = 17 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠
4. 𝐴 = 731,093; 𝑃 = 526,600; 𝑟 = 3% 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟
◦ Answer completely
Suppose the population of a certain bacteria in laboratory sample is 100. if it doubles in population every 6 hours, what
is the growth rate? How many bacteria will there be in 2 days?

The Fibonacci Sequence

Sequence – is an ordered list of numbers, called terms, that may have repeated values. The arrangement of these terms
is set by a definite rule.

Leonardo Fibonacci
Fibonacci (c. 1175 – c. 1250)[2] was an Italian mathematician from the Republic of Pisa, considered to be "the
most talented Western mathematician of the Middle Ages". The name he is commonly called, "Fibonacci" was made up
in 1838 by the French historian Guillaume Libri and is short for "filius Bonacci" ("son of (the) Bonacci") and he is also
known as Leonardo Bonacci, Leonardo of Pisa, Leonardo Pisano Bigollo, or Leonardo Fibonacci. Fibonacci popularized
the Hindu–Arabic numeral system in the Western World primarily through his composition in 1202 of Liber Abaci (Book
of Calculation). He also introduced Europe to the sequence of Fibonacci numbers, which he used as an example in Liber
Abaci.
Growth of Rabbit Colony

Months Adult Pairs Young Pairs Total

1 1 1 2

2 2 1 3

3 3 2 5

4 5 3 8

5 8 5 13

6 13 8 21

7 21 13 34

8 34 21 55

9 55 34 89

10 89 55 144

11 244 89 233

12 233 144 377

◦ Leonardo of Pisa also known as Fibonacci discovered a sequence of numbers that created an interesting pattern
the sequence is 1,1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, … each number is obtained by adding the last two numbers of the
sequence forms what is known as GOLDEN RECTANGLE, a perfect rectangle.
 ◦ A golden rectangle can be broken into squares the size of the next Fibonacci number down and below. If we
were to take a golden rectangle, break it down into smaller squares based from Fibonacci sequence and divide
each with an arc, the pattern begins to take shapes, we begin with Fibonacci spiral in which we can see in
nature.

Examples:
◦ Flower petals exhibit the Fibonacci number,
◦ white calla lily contains 1 petal
◦ Euphorbia contains 2 petals
◦ Spiderwort contains 5 petals
◦ Bloodroot contains 8 petals
◦ Black-eyed susan contains 13 petals
◦ Shasta daisy contains 21 petals
The growth of leaves in plants - the distance between them is correlated with the Fibonacci numbers (phyllotaxis)
 THE GOLDEN RATIO

◦ Fibonacci discvery of Fibonacci sequence happened to approach the ratio asymptotically. He found the
interesting and mysterious properties of the Fibonacci sequence that the series has a deep relationship with the
GOLDEN RATIO. The golden ratio was first called as the Divine Proportion in the early 1500s in Leonardo da
Vinci’s work which was explored by Luca Pacioli (Italian mathematician) entitled “De Devina Proportione” in
1509. This contains the drawings of the 5 platonic solids and it was probably da Vinci who first called it the
“section aurea” which is Latin for Golden Section.

◦ In Mathematics, two quantities are in the Golden ratio if their ratio is the same as their sum to the larger of the
two quantities.

◦ The Golden Ratio is the relationship between numbers on the Fibonacci sequence where plotting the
relationships on scales results in a spiral shape. In simple terms, golden ratio is expressed as equation, where a is
larger than b, (a+b) divided by a is equal to a divided by b, which is equal to 1.618033987… and represented by a
Greek character phi, .
Exercise

Let Fib(n) be the nth term of the sequence, with Fib(1) = 1, Fib(2) = 1, & Fib(3) = 2 and so on.
1. Find Fib(8).
2. Find Fib(19).
3. If Fib(22) = 17,711 and Fib(24) = 46,368, what is Fib(23)?
4. Evaluate the following sums:
a. Fib(1) + Fib(2) = ______
b. Fib(1) + Fib(2) + Fib(3) =_______
c. Fib(1) + Fib(2) + Fib(3) + Fib(4) = _______
Let Fib(n) be the nth term of the sequence, with Fib(1) = 1, Fib(2) = 1, & Fib(3) = 2 and so on.
5. Determine the pattern in the successive sums from the previous question. What will be the sum of Fib(1) + Fib(2) +
Fib(3) + ...+ Fib(10)?
6. If you have a wooden board that is 75 centimeters wide, how long should you cut it such that the Golden Ratio is
observed? Use 1.618 as the value of the Golden Ratio. Answer completely.