THE NATURE OF MATHEMATICS

I. MATHEMATICS IN NATURE

Finding mathematics in nature at a first glance may seem less obvious.

However, if one does not take time to examine nature, then one can describe its beauty
mathematically.

Fibonacci Sequence in Nature

Observing the geometry of plants, flowers or fruit it easy to recognize the presence of
recurrent structure and forms.

Fibonacci sequence plays important role in phyllotaxis, which studies the arrangement of
leaves, branches, flowers or seed in plants with the main aim of highlighting the existence of
regular pattern.

The number of petals of a flower is usually a Fibonacci number.

We can easily find the numbers of the Fibonacci sequence in the spirals formed by individual
flowers in the composite inflorescences of daises, sunflowers, cauliflower and broccoli.

Leonardo Pisano Bogollo – called Fibonacci (filius bonaccii) the man behind the Fibonacci
sequence.

Fn = Fn-1 + Fn-2
where; Fn= Fibonacci
Fn-1=previous term
Fn-2= the term before Fn-1
 Golden Ratio or Golden Section, ɸ

The important characteristic of the sequence is the fact that the ratio between any number and the
1+ √ 5
previous one in the series tends towards a well define value: 1.618… ( 2 )
It may be used to find the nth term of a Fibonacci sequence using the Binets Formula,
n n
1+ √ 5 1+ √ 5
Fn = (2
−) ( 2 )
√5

Problem solving:

II. NUMBERS AND PATTERN

SEQUENCE
 A sequence is a list of numbers which form a pattern, may be described by
examining how the terms are being generated.
 A sequence may be finite or infinite
 Fibonacci sequence is infinite.
 A finite sequence has a definite number of terms
 The pattern of number sequence may be identified by scrutinizing how the terms are
related to one another.
 May have a list of numbers in which a constant number is added to get the succeeding
terms.
 The terms are increasing because the number to be added is increasing in a
predictable way.
 Number patterns whose terms are decreasing, because the number to be added is
decreasing in an expected way.

To generate the next term, the number to Example

be added is

repeating 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, …

growing/increasing 14, 15, 17, 20, 24, 29, …
shrinking 118, 98, 73, 43, 8, -32, …
problem solving: