WHAT’S THE SIZE?

A Mathematical Modelling
Presented to the Division of Sarangani
Math Olympics Committee

APPLE GLEN D. FACIOL

BRYAN E. SOLIBAS
CHRISTINE PERANDO
Student Researchers

FRETZIE S. ALYAWAN
Coach
I. Introduction

Our bodies are amazing! They are full of mysteries and surprising facts such as this one: Did you
know that you are about a centimeter taller in the morning, when you have just woken up after hours of
lying down, than you are in the evening? You might never have noticed it. These interesting facts only
reveal themselves when you look closely, measure and compare. That is what this activity is about:
recording, comparing and discovering how the human body measures up! Did you know that human
bodies come in all sizes and forms? When you start measuring them, however, you will find our bodies
show surprising similarities—and even more surprisingly, we can express these with mathematical
concepts.

Anthropometry refers to the measurement of the human individual in order to understand

variations in human physique. Statistical data about the dimensions of body segments are used to
optimize product design, ergonomics and architecture. Changes in the distribution of body dimensions
are impacted by changes in lifestyles, nutrition and ethnic composition of the population; and therefore,
require regular updating of anthropometric data collections (Miller, Vandome & McBrewster, 2010).

The length of foot is the same as the length of forearm, demonstrating a golden relationship
between the hand and the foot (Place, 2000). According to Jovanic (2003), the golden section is found
to be a unifying and universal criterion for beauty; which can be found in art, architecture and even in
the structure of the human body. For example, the hand creates a golden section in relation to the arm
where the ratio of forearm to the hand is 1.618 or Phi (PhiPoint Solutions, 2011). Similarly, Leonardo Da
Vinci’s Vitruvian Man shows that that there is a strong relationship between the hand and the foot;
demonstrating a golden proportion (Place, 2000). Studies on the relationships of different body parts
were made to know the length of the forearm and the size of the foot of a person’s body. The forearm
and foot were considered to know if there is a significant relationship between the body parts and its
size.

In some online forums, we also came across discussion threads about the use of forearm length
as an approximated measure of foot length for the purpose of buying shoes. However, we were unable
to find studies done solely on the lengths of forearms and feet to support this popular belief. Therefore,
our group seeks to investigate the relationship between the forearms and feet lengths based on the above
findings. Researchers take these variables to find out the mathematical model if the individual’s size of
the foot has a relationship to the length of forearm. The model shall be used to identify significant
relationship of the size of the foot to the length of the forearm.
II. Statement of the Problem

1. What is the relationship of the size of the foot to the length of the forearm?

2. Is there a significant relationship between the size of the foot to the length of the forearm?

The Hypothesis:

There is a significant relationship between forearm and foot size.

The Null Hypothesis:

There is no significant relationship between forearm and foot size.

III. Solving the Problem

Definition of terms

 Foot Size- is defined as the distance between the calcaneus and the tip of the longest toe.

 Forearm Length- is defined as the distance between the elbow crease and the distal wrist crease
in centimeters.

 Regression analysis - is a statistical method that allows the researcher to examine the
relationship between two or more variables of interest.

 Standard Deviation – is a statistic that measures the dispersion of a dataset relative to its mean
and is calculated as the square root of the variance.

 Pearson r – coefficient is the test statistics that measures the statistical relationship, or association,
between two continuous variables.
 Anova test - is a way to find out if survey or experiment results are significant.

Study Locale and Participants

 10 participants per grade level of the Junior High School Students of Kablacan Integrated School
of the School Year 2019-2020.
 Participants has an average age 14 with 12 as the youngest and 17 as the eldest.

IV. Data Gathering/Analysis

Initial exploration of the data by the researchers were done by actual measuring of the size of the
foot and the length of the forearm of the 10 respondents per grade level. Gender was not considered in
the data gathering.
 The following statistical tool were considered in the data analysis: the size of the foot as an
RESPONDENT # AGE FOREARM (INCH) FOOT (INCH)
1 16 9 8
2 15 9½ 9
3 17 9½ 8½
4 17 9½ 8½
5 15 8 8½
6 16 10 9½
7 16 9½ 9½
8 15 11 10
9 15 9 8½
10 15 10 8½
11 14 9 8
12 14 9½ 9
13 14 9 8½
14 14 9 8
15 16 10 ½ 9
16 14 9½ 9
17 15 9 8
18 14 8½ 8½
19 15 9½ 9½
20 15 9 8½
21 13 9 8½
22 14 9 8½
23 13 8½ 8½
24 14 9 9
25 14 9 9
26 15 10 10
27 13 9 9½
28 13 9½ 8½
29 14 9 9
30 14 8½ 8
31 12 8 8
32 13 8½ 9
33 12 8½ 9
34 13 9 9
35 13 9 9
36 14 9 8
37 12 9 9
38 12 8 8
39 12 8½ 8½
40 12 10 10
MEAN 14.1 9.1375 8.7625
SD 0.6404 0.5772
PEARSON r 0.77829
independent variable and the length of the forearm as the dependent variable were calculated using
mean, standard deviation, regression analysis, Person and ANOVA test.
 Table1. Summary of data on the measurement of forearm and size of the foot.

Table 1 shows the Pearson r of 0.77829 has a perfect positive relationship. Perfect positive
relationship both variables increase or decrease together and lie on a perfect straight line with a positive
slope. Result shows that the correlation is significant.

Coefficient, r

Strength of
Positive Negative
Association

Negative Relationship .1 to .3 -0.1 to -0.3

No Relationship .3 to .5 -0.3 to -0.5

Positive Relationship .5 to 1.0 -0.5 to -1.0

V- Results and Interpretation

A. Graph below shows the Regression analysis between length of forearm and size of the foot of
respondents. This results show the relationship of the size of the foot to the length of the forearm. The
fitted line plot illustrates this by graphing the relationship between a foot size and length of the forearm.
In this case, the foot size and length of the forearm data were collected from the Junior High School
Students of Kablacan Integrated School with age ranges from 12-17 years old. The correlation coefficient
in the regression analysis is 0.61. This coefficient represents the mean in every increase in size of the
foot in inches for the additional increase in length of the forearm.

Graph 1. Test of Linearity between Length of Forearm and Size of the Foot

The chart below shows the correlation coefficient r of the Regression analysis.
 B. Results show that the size of the foot as independent variable has a relationship to the length
of the forearm of a person as presented below.

Summary output shows that using the size of the foot as the independent variable, has a
relationship to the length of the forearm of a person. The f-ratio value is 7.5679. The p-value is
.0074. The result is significant at p<.05. Therefore, null hypothesis is rejected.

Based on our investigation that there is a positive relationship between the forearm and
foot lengths, you may wish to use your forearm length as an approximate measure of your foot
length when you go shoe shopping!

VI - Verifying and Refining the Model

Factors to ensure validity, reliability and consistency of data

 Start and end point of measurements were standardized among data collectors

 Position of subjects when measurements were taken:

o All forearm measurement done in standing

o Feet measurements done in standing

o Subjects were required to remove all accessories from their arm for accurate data collection

o Time of the day- to cater to the expansion of the feet throughout the day

 All data was collected on one occasion and at the same time of the day

 Tools were standardized as well:

 We compared the tape measures to make sure there are no discrepancies in the units

VII – Extension

 Determine other factors and body parts that will predict the size of the foot and the length of
the forearm of a person.
 Use of appropriate tool for measuring to produce accuracy and precision in the result
production.
 Separate male from female respondents.
Bibliography

Brabandere S.D,(2017), Human Body Ratios, Retrieve from

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/human-body-ratios

Calabrese B, (2010),Relationship Between The Length of The Forearm and Foot, Retrieve from
https://stats-2012.blogspot.com/2012/07/presenting-to-you-awesome-guys-of.html?m=1

Jovanovic, R. (2003). The golden section and the human body. Retrieved July 3, 2011,
from http://milan.milanovic.org/math/english/golden/golden2.html

Miller, F.P., Vandome, A.F. and Mcbrewster, J. (2010), Study on Rolling Characteristics of the Projectile
with Wide-Angle Oblique Empennages Retrieve from
https://www.scirp.org/(S(i43dyn45teexjx455qlt3d2q))/reference/ReferencesPapers.aspx?ReferenceID=1
679968

https://smellyforearmandfeet.wordpress.com/2010/07/29/about-us/ The relationship between forearm

and foot