WHO SAID MATH

WASN’T FUN?
Tara Kerr, Liz So, Deena Douara
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YouTube
the Golden Ratio: the math

the Golden Ratio is a special number approximately equal to

1.6180339887498948482

one way to visually understand it is with a line segment

the Golden Ratio: the math

then a mathematical equation can be established through the ratio

b = a by cross-multiplying we get ab + b2 = a2
a a+b
or if we substitute 1 for b, then a2 = a + 1

solving for a, we end up with

a = (1 + sqrt(5))
2
= phi 
1.61803398874
=
9
the Golden Ratio: the math
Fibonacci sequence =

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89,

144...

where 5/3 = 1.6666… and 8/5 = 1.6 and

13/8 = 1.625 and 21/13 = 1.615… and
34/21 = 1.61904… and so on, each more
closely approximating the Golden Ratio
In History ...
Ancient Egypt

 Pyramids
Ancient Greece
 Pythagoras
 concept
 geometry

 Euclid
 definition

 Phidias (phi, Φ )
 sculptor
 Parthenon
“Middle” Ages
 Leonardo of Pisa aka
"Fibonacci“
 Fibonacci sequence

 Great Mosque of
Kairouan (Tunisia)
Renaissance
 Leonardo da Vinci

 “divine proportion” (Luca

de Pacioli)

 Johannes Kepler
 Kepler triangle

 decimal (Maestlin)

 Taj Mahal
post-Renaissance
 “φ “ named

 Oprah, plastic surgery

& cult of beauty

 Painters
 Mondrian, Dali

 Modern architecture
 Le Corbusier
Nature
 plants & flowers

 human body

 animals
Further Reading

 Mario Livio, The Golden Ratio: The Story of

Phi, The World's Most Astonishing Number

 YouTube videos, Discover Channel