CHAPTER 1- MATHEMATICS IN OUR WORLD

Mathematics is the study of the relationships among numbers, quantities, and

shapes.

 It includes arithmetic, algebra, trigonometry, geometry, statistics, and

calculus. Mathematics nurtures human characteristics like power of
creativity, reasoning, critical thinking, spatial thinking, and others.
 Mathematics helps organize patterns and regularities in the world.
 Mathematics helps predict the behavior of nature and phenomena in
the world.
 Mathematics, being a science of patterns, helps students to utilize,
recognize and
 generalize patterns that exist in numbers, in shapes and in the world
around them.

A. PATTERN AND NUMBERS IN NATURE AND THE WORLD

Patterns in nature are visible regularities found in natural world. These patterns persist in different
contexts and can be modelled mathematically.

1. Spirals – patterns in a circular curving line that goes around a central point while

getting closer to or farther away from it.

2. The concept of symmetry fascinates philosophers, astronomers, mathematicians, artists, architects

and physicists. Balanced proportions. The motion of pendulum, the reflection in a plane mirror, the
motion of a falling object and the action-reaction pair of forces are all guide and organized by
mathematics. They exhibit regularities and symmetry in motion and behavior according to mathematical
laws.

3. mosaics – something made up of different things that together form a pattern.

4. Stripes – a line or long narrow section differing in color or texture from parts adjoining.

5. Radial – arranged or having parts arranged in straight lines coming out from the center of a circle.

6. Tessellations - the tiling of a plane using one or more geometric shapes, called tiles, with no overlaps
and no gaps.
In 19th century
 Belgian physicist Joseph Plateau examined soap films, leading him to formulate
the concept of a minimal surface.
 German biologist and artist Ernst Haeckel painted hundreds of marine organisms
to emphasize their symmetry.
 Scottish biologist D’arcy Thompson pioneered the study of growth patterns in both plants and
animals, showing that simple equations could explain spiral growth.

In 20th century
 British mathematician Alan Turing predicted mechanism of morphogenesis which give rise to
patterns of spots and stripes.
 Hungarian biologist Aristid Lindenmayer and french american mathematician Benoit Maldenbrot
showed how the mathematics of fractals could create plant growth patterns.
 W. Gary Smith adopts eight patterns in his landscape work, namely: scattered, fractured,
mosaic, naturalistic drift, serpentine, spiral, radial and dendritic.

Numbers are everywhere in nature. Mathematicians noticed that numbers appear in many different
patterns in nature:

• Bird’s two wings

• Clover’s three leaflets

• Deer’s four hooves

• Buttercup’s five petals

• Insect’s six legs

• Rainbow’s seven colors

• Octopus’ eight arms

B. THE FIBONACCI SEQUENCE

Leonardo Pisano Bogollo – also known as Fibonacci which roughly means “Son of

Bonacci”

- He lived between 1170 and 1250 in Italy

- Aside from being famous for the Fibonacci Sequence, he also helped spread

Hindu Arabic Numerals ( 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9) through Europe in place of Roman

Numerals ( I, II, III, IV, V, etc).

- Fibonacci Day: Nov. 23, as it has the digits “1123” which is part of the sequence.

The Fibonacci Sequence goes like this:

0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 …

Each number in the sequence is the sum of the two numbers which precede it.

The ratio of any two successive Fibonacci Numbers is very close to the Golden

Ratio, referred to and represented as phi (𝝓) which is approximately equal to 1.618034

A B B/A = 𝝓
2 3 1.5
3 5 1.6666666667
5 8 1.6
8 13 1.625
… …. ….
144 233 1.6180555556
233 377 1.6180257511
… …
75025 121393 1.6180339887
121393 196418 1.6180339888
196418 317811 1.6180339887
…. ….

Golden Spiral – is a logarithmic spiral whose growth factor is phi (𝝓), the golden ratio.

Examples of Fibonacci flowers are:

 3 – petal lily and iris

 5 – petal wild rose, larkspur, buttercup, and columbine
 8 – petal delphiniums
 13 – petal ragwort, corn marigold and cineraria
 21 – petal aster, chicory and black – eyed susan
 34 – petal pytethrum and plantain

C. PATTERNS AND REGULARITIES IN THE WORLD AS ORGANIZED BY MATHEMATICS

Patterns, relationship and functions constitute a unifying theme of mathematics. So many of the
beautiful phenomena observed in nature can be described in mathematical term. Scientific and
mathematical principles undergird these spectacular patterns: rainbows, water waves, cloud formation,
tree branching patterns and etc.

Do you agree that the world is consists of orders and symmetry? The world consists of orders (like the
regular cycles of days and nights, the recurrence of seasons, alternate sunrise and sunset, etc.) and
symmetry (the fractal pattern in a Romanesco broccoli, bilateral peacock’s tail, circular spider webs, etc.)
from which similarity predictability and regularity in nature and the world consequently exist.
Mathematics is all about taking rather complex problems and turning them into something of value by
making it objective and measurable. In that way, it can help organize information and put them into
various patterns through their value (which is something that math can do).

Some of examples that are all guided and organized mathematics are:

1. Motion of a pendulum

The patterns and regularities in the swinging motion of a pendulum can be explained by mathematics.
The mathematics of pendulum is quite complicated and harmonic. It takes a period of time to swing
back to its original position which is related to its length, but the relationship is not linear.

2. Reflection in a plane mirror

How an image is formed by an object in a plane mirror is fascinating – the image which has exactly the
same size as the object and is far behind the mirror as the object is distant from the mirror. This
regularity in size and distance can be explained mathematically by the law of reflection.

3. Free-falling Object

A free-falling object is an object that is falling under the sole influence of gravity. Any object that is
moving and being acted upon the force of gravity is said to be in a state of free fall. Its motion obeys the
equations of uniformly accelerated vertical motion
4. Action-reaction Pair

In every interaction, there is a pair of forces acting on the two interacting objects. The amount of force
on the first object equals the size of the force on the second object. The direction of the force on the
first object is opposite to the direction of the force on the second object. Forces always come in pairs –
equal and opposite action-reaction pairs.

D. PHENOMENA IN THE WORLD AS PREDICTED BY MATHEMATICS

There are many patterns found in nature, including numerical patterns (such as Fibonacci numbers in
sunflower) and shape patterns (such as in snowflakes). Nature has symmetries at every scale, from
elementary particles and atoms right up to galaxies. Mathematics is an extraordinary exercise of the
human in abstracting the result of observation to find similarities and differences between phenomena.
These relations between phenomena make it possible to organize the natural word into discrete sets of
objects that can be studied using similar mathematical objects and methods.

Example: the SAND DUNES and ZEBRA STRIPES

They are physically different but mathematically has similar patterns

E. APPLICATION OF MATHEMATICS IN THE WORLD

Mathematics has everyday applications. It is a universal language different in places in different times, in
different settings and different circumstances. The physical world seems to consist of countable things
and any infinity encountered is a result of extending a counting process.

 When one buys a product, follow a recipe, or decorate his room, it requires math principles
 Farming and Gardening also provide rich mathematical opportunities. Within the broad concept
of farming, there are two very important elements: time and money. At the root of both of
these is mathematics. Mathematics has enabled farming to be more economically efficient and
has increased productivity.
 Planning a market list and grocery shopping requires math knowledge, starting from the
fundamental operations to estimation and percentage: calculating price per unit, figuring
percentage discounts, comparing unit and bulk price of items, estimating total price, etc.
 Anywhere in the house, there is mathematics; e.g. symmetric arrangement of furniture’s, wall
decorations and frames, wine bottles in the bar, plant pots in the garden and even restroom
fixtures.
 Working in the kitchen requires mathematical knowledge: measuring ingredients, calculating
cooking time, making ratios and proportions in baking, etc.
 Long and short travels involves math in various ways: fuel required based on distance, total
expenses for toll fees, tire pressure check, time allowance for the trip, short-cut routes
alternatives, road map reading, speed limits and others.
 A contractor, or even a construction worker, knows that building anything and creating
something requires a broad range of mathematics. Making accurate measurements of lengths,
widths, and angles; projecting detailed material estimate, getting the best value of available
resources, etc. are obvious applications of mathematics.