Before reading this module, watch first the video entitled, Introduction to Fibonacci numbers and golden ratio.

What can you say about the video you have watch? Use the space provided for your short takeaway.
 Module 2
Numbers in Nature
A. The Fibonacci Sequence

13 – 3 – 2 – 21 – 1 – 1 – 8 – 5
O, Draconian Devil!
Oh, lame saint!

Harvard University Professor Robert Langdon, the hero of Dan Brown’s best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code,
was initially baffled by the message scrawled in invisible ink on the floor of the Louvre in Paris by a dying man
with a passion for secret code.
Langdon, whose specialty is religious symbology, soon figure out that the words are a pair of anagrams for
“Leonardo da Vinci” and “the Mona Lisa”. But what about those numbers? They may have puzzled Langdon for a
while, but any mathematician will recognize them at once. They are the first eight members of the Fibonacci
sequence, written in a jumbled order.

Around 1200 AD when Pizano or Leonardo of Pisa (1170-1250) published the Liber
Abbaci, or “Book of Calculations”, an arithmetic text which concentrate mainly on
financial computations and promotes the use of Hindu – Arabic Numerals – the
forerunner of today’s familiar system, which uses just ten digits to represent all
possible numbers.
One of the exercises in his book is:
“A man put a pair of rabbits in a place surrounded on all sides by a wall. How
many pairs of rabbits are produced from that pair in a year, if it is supposed that every month each pair produces a
new pair, which from the second month onwards becomes productive?”
The solution is:

By definition, the first two numbers in the Fibonacci sequence are 1 and 1, and each subsequent number is the
sum of the previous two. In mathematical terms, the sequence F n of Fibonacci Numbers is defined by the
recurrence relation F n=F n−1+ F n−2, with seed values
F 1=1 and F 2=1
To find the nth Fibonacci number without using the recursion formula, we have;

( ) ( )
n n
1+ √ 5 1−√ 5
−
2 2
F n=
√5
This form is known as Binet form of the nth Fibonacci number.
Leonardo of Pisa also known as Fibonacci discovered a sequence of numbers that created an interesting pattern
the sequence 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 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 to smaller square based from Fibonacci
sequence and divide each with an arc, the pattern begins to take
shapes, in which we can see in nature.

Example of Fibonacci in Nature

Flower petals exhibit the Fibonacci number

The sunflower, where the pattern of two spirals goes in opposing

directions (clockwise and counterclockwise).
 The spirals from the center of a pine cones.

The sneezewort branches and leaves

Tree branches

Spiral Galaxies and Hurricanes

Exploration
Explore the relationship between bee’s reproduction and Fibonacci numbers. Site your reference.
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B. The Golden Ratio
The golden ratio was first called as the Divine Proportion in the early 1500s in
Leonardo da Vinci’s work entitled “De Divina Proportione” in 1509. De Divina
Proportione contains the drawings of the five platonic solids and it was probably da
Vinci who first called it “section aurea” which is Latin for Golden Section.
In mathematics, two quantities are in the Golden ratio if their ratio is the same of their sum to the larger of the two
quantities. In simple terms, golden ratio is expressed as an 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 φ .

The Golden ratio is the relationship between numbers on the Fibonacci sequence where plotting the relationships
on scales results in a spiral shape. These numbers are all
successive numbers in the Fibonacci sequence. These numbers
can be applied to the proportions of a rectangle, called the
Golden rectangle. The Golden rectangle is also related to the
Golden spiral, which is created by making adjacent squares
sizes up to 34.

Golden ratio can also be deduced in an isosceles triangle. If we

take isosceles triangle that has the two base angles of 72 ° and we bisect one of the base angles, we should see
another Golden triangle similar to the Golden rectangle. The ancient Greek
geometers discovered a useful idea which they called “division in extreme and
mean ratio”. By this they meant a line AB being cut at a point P, so that the ratios
AP : AB and PB : AP are the same. Taking PB tp be legnth 1, and let AP = x, so
1+ x x
that AB = 1+x. Then the required condition is = , so that x 2−x−1=0.
x 1
The solutions of this quadratic are φ=1.618034 … and 1−φ=−0.0618034 …

Both Golden Rectangle and Golden Triangle are associated with a spiral.
A golden spiral can be approximated by drawing circular arcs connecting
the opposite corners of squares in the Fibonacci tiling. This spiral uses
squares of sizes 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, and 34.
We start with two small squares of size 1 next to each other. On top of
both of these, we then draw a square of size 2 (=1+1). Now we draw a
new square – touching both a unit square and the latest square of side 2 –
thereby having sides 3 units long, and then another touching both the 2-
square and the 3-square (which has sides of 5 units).
We can continue this by adding squares around the picture, each new square having a side which is as long as the
sum of the latest two square’s sides.
This set of squares (or rectangles) whose sides are two successive Fibonacci numbers in length and which are
composed of squares with sides which are Fibonacci numbers, are called the Fibonacci rectangles.
The spiral-in-the-squares makes a line from the centre of the spiral increase by a factor of the golden number in
each square.
 So, the points on the golden spiral are
1.618 times as far from the centre after one quarter of a turn.
In a whole turn, the points on a radius out from the centre are 1.6184 = 6.854 times further out than when the
curve last crossed the same radial line.
The spiral is not a true mathematical spiral (since it is made up of fragments which are parts of circles and does
not go on getting smaller and smaller) but it is a good approximation to a kind of spiral that does appear often in
Nature.

Check your Understanding

Explained briefly the relationship between the Fibonacci numbers and golden ratio. Use the space provided for
your answer.
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Golden Ratio in Nature

Fibonacci numbers are said to be as one of the nature’s numbering systems, we see arrangement and structures
reflecting Fibonacci numbers or golden ratio.
Why do these arrangements occur?
When it comes to leaf arrangement (phyllotaxis), it may be related to optimising the
space required for each leaf to grow, or the average amount of light falling on each
one. Even a tiny advantage would come to dominate, over many generations. In the
case of close-packed leaves in cabbages and succulents, the correct
arrangement may be crucial for space availability.

The positions and proportions of the key dimensions of many animals are based on Phi orφ .
The relationship of golden ratio is observed on the human
body shape and structure. The human face follows the ratio
and we find people whose faces are truer to the ratio more
attractive. Example of parts of the human body following the
Fibonacci; 2 hands with 5 digits, and 8 fingers each contains
3 section. These are actually the numbers in Fibonacci
numbers. Puzzled?

Exploration
The Golden Ratio and the Human Body
Measure the following (in centimetre):
o Distance from the ground to your navel _________
o Distance from your navel to the top of your head _________
o Distance from the ground to your ground knees _________
o Length of your hand _________
o Distance from your wrist to your elbow _________
o Distances A, B and C as indicated in the figure in the right A________
B________
C________
Now, calculate the following ratios and write the results in the table below:
¿
Ratio 1 = Distance ¿ the ground ¿ your navel your navel¿ the top of your head ¿
Distance ¿
¿
Ratio 2 = Distance ¿ the ground ¿ your navel the ground ¿ your ground knees ¿
Distance ¿
¿
Ratio 3 = Distance ¿ your wrist ¿ your elbow
Length of your hand
DistanceC
Ratio 4 =
Distance B
Distance B
Ratio 5 =
Distance A
Ratio 1 Ratio 2 Ratio 3 Ratio 4 Ratio 5
Golden Ratio in Arts
The Golden Ratio can be used to achieve beauty, balance and harmony in art, architecture and design. It is said
that Phi is the initial letters of Phidias’ name adopted to designate the golden ratio. It was Mark Barr, an American
mathematician, who proposed using the first letter of Phidias to represent the golden ratio in the 1990s. Phidias
(490 BC – 430 BC) widely used the golden ratio in his works of sculpture.

The exterior dimension of the Parthenon embodies the golden ratio.

Euclid (323 BC – 265 BC) was the first to give definition of the golden ratio as “dividing line in the extreme and
mean ratio”. He proved the link of the number to the construction of the pentagram, which is now known as
golden ratio.

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (1452 – 1519) use golden ratio to define the fundamental proportions in his works.

Michelangelo di Lodovico Simon (1475 – 1564) is in his painting “The Creation of Adam” used the golden ratio
in showing how God’s finger and Adam’s finger meet
precisely at the golden ratio point of the weight and
height of the area that contains the.
Michelangelo also used the pentagram or golden star in his painting the holy family.

Rafael Sanzio da Urbino (1483 – 1520), in his painting “The School of Athens”, the
division between the figures in the painting and their proportions are distributed using the golden ratio.

The golden triangle and the pentagram can also be found in his painting, “Crucifixion.”

Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn (1606 – 1669) is a

Dutch painter. It is said that the golden triangle is applied in his paintings “Self
Portrait”.

Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi (1445 -1510), known as Sandro

Botticelli, created the famous painting, “Birth of Venus”. This said painting
is of the golden ratio and it is said that her navel is also at the golden ratio
point of the height of Venus’ body.

George-Pierre Seurat (1859 –

1891) used golden ratio in his paintings, “Bathers at Asinnieres”,
“Bridge of Courbevoie” and “A Sunday on La Grande Jette” to define
the horizon, to place point of interest and to create balance.
 Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dali (1904 – 1989), in his masterpiece, “The Sacrament of the Last Supper”,
positioned the table exactly at the golden ratio of
the height of his painting.

Golden Ratio in
Arts

The Great Pyramid of Giza built 4700 BC in Ahmes Papyrus of Egypt is

with proportion according to a golden ratio.

Notre Dame is a gothic cathedral in Paris, appears to have golden ratio in a

number of its key proportions of design.

The Taj Mahal in India, used golden ratio in the order and proportion of the
arches.

In the United Nations Building, the window configuration reveal golden proportion.

The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France by

Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, exhibits golden ratio through its base being
broader while it narrows down to top.

The CN Tower in Toronto, contains the

golden ratio in its design.
Exploration
Present and briefly discuss one artwork which applies the golden ratio. Cite your references.