The Golden Ratio

Grace C. Bingham
Dr. Sathis BE 2352- Section 2
17 November 2015

ABSTRACT:
This report is meant to teach the basic understandings of the Fibonacci Sequence and the
Golden Ratio. There are several journals and textbooks by mathematicians describing the
Fibonacci Sequence, golden spiral, golden angle, golden rectangle, and golden ratio (also known
as phi). This report will condense those findings and show how these mathematical concepts are
shown in nature. This report will provide the numerical meaning of the Fibonacci Sequence and
how the Golden Ratio is related to it. By the end of this paper, the reader will comprehend the
basic formulas of the Fibonacci Sequence, golden angle, golden rectangle, and golden ratio; be
able to draw a golden spiral using Fibonacci numbers; graph a known, leaf growth pattern using
the golden angle; and have a better understanding of where these shapes in nature come from.
The main objective of this report is not only to teach the Fibonacci Sequence and Golden
Ratio, but also to promote research. The conclusion on this papers research finding uses a
number of different fields, such as biochemist, botanists, and mathematicians, to explain why the
majority of nature grows in a pattern similar to the Golden Ratio. This report will thoroughly
explain the Fibonacci Sequence and Golden Ratio, but there are as many journal entries
promoting these findings as well as refuting them. Many scholars will continue to research topics
that have already been accepted as fact to validate what the human race knows. These forms of
research spark new ideas that lead into further research. The field of Biological Engineering is a
field brimming with research, and this report is meant to encourage undergraduate Biological
Engineering Students to pursue research.

BODY:

The Fibonacci Sequence originates from India, but is only clearly cited by Gopala
quoting Virahankas work which can no longer be found. The sequence as we know it today was
found by Leonardo of Pisa, also known as Fibonacci, who is hailed as one of the greatest
mathematicians of his time. Fibonacci wrote a number of advanced mathematical books. In his
book, Liber Abaci, he walks the reader through a problem about rabbits that helps explain the
basis of the Fibonacci Sequence. The problem goes like this:
If we have two newborn rabbits, one female and one male, and each pair follows these
conditions: takes one month to become mature, produces another pair (one male and one female)
from the second month on, and no rabbits die. The table below from Fibonacci and Lucas
Numbers with Applications shows the pairs of rabbits if the original pair were newborns in
January. The original pair becomes adults in February, and then produce offspring, one male and
one female, in march. Since the original pair does not start to reproduce till after one month of
being adults, the number of babies goes from one pair in January (the original pair), which
become adults in February who do not produce till March, yielding one new pair. Once the
originals offspring are adults in April, and assuming the original pair did not die, both pairs will
produce which will yield two pairs of babies in May.
Table 1:
Number of Pairs

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

May

Jun.

Jul.

Aug.

Adults

13

Babies

Total

13

21

The numbers seen in the rows labeled Adults, Babies, and Total follow a specific pattern.
This pattern is the Fibonacci Sequence, and the numbers shown are Fibonacci numbers. The

Fibonacci Sequence is a sequence of numbers found by adding the last two numbers
to find the next number in the sequence. Usually the Fibonacci Sequence starts with 0 and 1, but
it can also start with 1 and 1. Below are the first sixteen terms in the Fibonacci Sequence:
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610 . . .
As you can see, each number can be found by taking the sum of the two terms before it:
0+1=1, 1+1=2, 1+2=3, 2+3=5, 3+5=8, etc.
Equation 1:

x n1+ x n2=x n
Using the above equation, you can find any number in the Fibonacci Sequence, as long as

you know the two prior terms, where

immediately before it, and

x n is the term you are solving for,

x n2 is the term before

x n1 is the term

x n1 . So if we wanted to find the next

number using Equation 1, the seventeenth term in the Fibonacci Sequence listed above, we
would add 377 ( x n1=x16 ) + 610 ( x n2=x 15 and get 987 ( x 17 which will represent
x n ).
Fibonacci Numbers are the foundation to the Golden Ratio. Take the golden spiral for
example. The golden spiral is made up of squares each comprising side lengths of Fibonacci
numbers. You would first start with one square with a side length of one on each side, then draw
a second square on top with a side length of one. On the side of those two squares, draw a square
with a side length of two. The next square should have a side length of three and the one after
that a side length of five. If you continue to draw squares with side lengths corresponding with
the Fibonacci Sequence, you will draw a perfect spiral. These golden spirals formed using the
Fibonacci Sequence are seen all throughout nature. The most common demonstration of a golden
spiral in nature is in a sea shell. Below in Figure 1, is a picture of a Nautilus Sea Shell depicting
the squares with the side lengths of Fibonacci numbers used to draw the golden spiral.
Figure 1:

In some

http://mathforum.org/mathimages/index.php/Fibonacci_Numbers

objects there are only one spiral as seen in the Nautilus Sea Shell, but in other forms of nature
there are many spirals. Figure 2 shows the center of a flower where the pollen is held. In Figure
2, there are thirteen spirals going to the counter-clockwise and twenty-one going clockwise
drawn over the seeds in the flower. Both Fibonacci numbers. Multiple spirals can also be found
in other structures such as pineapples, seen in Figure 3. Golden spirals can also be seen in
pinecones, inner-ear diagrams, and other plants.
Figure 2:
Figure 3:

A perfect spiral forms with an angle

http://preventdisease.com/news/14/093014_9-Things-Probably-Dont-Know-About-Pineapples.shtml
http://thesavoia.com/2012/06/04/the-golden-ratio-

that ensures that any loop within the spiral

will not overlap with another. This angle is
known as the golden angle and is formed using the Golden Ratio. The Golden Ratio is an
irrational number. This means that like pi, , this number cannot be represented using a fraction
of two whole numbers. Additionally, an irrational number shows no pattern. The Golden Ratio
can also be represented by the Greek letter phi, , and is numerically represented as:

= 1.61803398874989484820...
This number was calculated using this formula:
Equation 2:

Using Equation 2, we can derive an equation that will allow us to calculate any number
in the Fibonacci Sequence. The beauty of Equation 3 is that you do not need to know the two
prior terms to find a term in the sequence. For this equation you only need phi. Also note that this
equation shows how great the correlation between the Fibonacci Sequence and the Golden Ratio,
phi.
Equation 3:

Using the example we used earlier, we can now find the seventeenth term by plugging in
1.618 for and 17 for n.
Phi and the Fibonacci Sequence are so closely related that if you took two numbers from
the sequence and divided them by each other, the larger the numbers in the Fibonacci sequence
you use the closer the number gets to phi. For example:
21
377
=1.61538 WHERE AS
=1.61802
13
233
Using phi, we can also calculate what is known as the golden rectangle. In Figure 4, if
a were to be the length of a rectangle and b the width, the following equation would yield a
golden rectangle.
Figure 4:

The golden rectangle is often used in art, because it is thought to be the most aesthetically
pleasing frame. This perfect frame is achieved when the larger length of the rectangle over the
smaller length is equal to the sum of the two lengths over the larger length. When the proper
lengths are found that make these two equations equal to each other, they always equal phi. This
same concept can be applied to circles, as seen in Figure 5 and Figure 6 to find the golden angle.
Figure 5:

The golden angle is simply found by taking

Figure 6:

360
=222.5 , or 137.5

from the

positive x-axis. This angle can also be found in nature much like the golden spiral. The growth
patterns of some leaves and petals on flowers grow in a fashion like the golden angle. This
makes sense, because if a plant uses the golden ratio, an irrational number, its petals and leaves
will be less likely to overlap which will optimize sunlight for the plant. Think back to the golden
spiral and how the loops never overlapped, because the golden ratio is the optimal angle. In
Figure 7, leaves one and two are 137.5 away from each other. Leaves two and three are also a
phith, a degree of phi, apart. As the plant grew, each leaf grew a phith of a circle away from the
last.
Figure 7:

137.5

Work Cited
"Fibonacci Sequence." Math Is Fun. 2014. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
Koshy, Thomas. Fibonacci and Lucas Numbers with Applications. New York: Wiley, 2001. 1, 46. Print.
Laugier, Alexandre, and Manjil P. Saikia. "Some Properties of Fibonacci Numbers, Generalized
Fibonacci Numbers and Generalized Fibonacci Polynomial Sequences." Kyungpook
Mathematical Journal (2015): 5-6.ArXiv. Web. 30 Oct. 2015.
<http://front.math.ucdavis.edu/1209.4604>.
Md. Akhtaruzzaman , Amir A. Shafie , "Geometrical Substantiation of Phi, the Golden Ratio and
the Baroque of Nature, Architecture, Design and Engineering", International Journal of Arts,
Vol. 1 No. 1, 2011, pp. 1-22. doi: 10.5923/j.arts.20110101.01.
Rehmeyer, Julie J. "Mathematical Lives of Plants: Why Plants Grow in Geometrically Curious
Patterns." Science News 21 July 2007. Print.
"The Golden Angle." Go Figure. Tempera and Wordpress, 29 Oct. 2014. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
Weisstein, Eric W. "Lucas Number." Wolfram MathWorld. Wolfram Research, Inc., 2015.
Web. 28 Oct. 2015.