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Golden Ratio

The golden ratio is a number approximately equal to 1.618 that is found in geometry and art. It is the ratio of the longer part of a line to the whole line, equal to the ratio of the whole line to the shorter part. Shapes based on the golden ratio are considered aesthetically pleasing. It appears throughout nature in spirals like those found in seashells and hurricanes. Many famous structures like the Great Pyramid and Parthenon incorporate the golden ratio in their design.

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156 views3 pages

Golden Ratio

The golden ratio is a number approximately equal to 1.618 that is found in geometry and art. It is the ratio of the longer part of a line to the whole line, equal to the ratio of the whole line to the shorter part. Shapes based on the golden ratio are considered aesthetically pleasing. It appears throughout nature in spirals like those found in seashells and hurricanes. Many famous structures like the Great Pyramid and Parthenon incorporate the golden ratio in their design.

Uploaded by

Sebastian Abad
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Golden Ratio

DESCRIPTION

The golden ratio, also known as the golden proportion, golden mean, golden
section, golden number, and divine proportion is the division of a given unit of
length into two parts such that the ratio of the shorter to the longer equals the
ratio of the longer part to the whole or, when a line is divided such that the ratio
of the longer part of the line to the whole is exactly the same ratio as the shorter
part of the line is to the longer part.

It is a number often encountered when taking the ratios of distances in simple


geometric figures, such as the pentagon, pentagram, decagon and dodecahedron.
It is a ratio or proportion defined by the number Phi = 1.618033988749895... It
is an irrational number, meaning it is a number that cannot be written as a simple
fraction - the decimal goes on forever without repeating. Phi, like Pi, is a ratio
defined by a geometric construction.

Just as Pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, Phi is simply
the ratio of the line segments that result when a line is divided in one very special
and unique way.

The figure of a golden section illustrates the geometric relationship that defines
this constant. Expressed algebraically:

This equation has as its unique positive solution the algebraic irrational number

Shapes proportioned according to the golden ratio have long been considered
aesthetically pleasing throughout many cultures, and is still used frequently in art
and design, suggesting a natural balance between symmetry and asymmetry.

The ancient Pythagoreans, who defined numbers as expressions of ratios (and not
as units as is common today), believed that reality is numerical and that the
golden ratio expressed an underlying truth about existence.

The Golden Ratio seems to get its name from the Golden Rectangle, a rectangle
whose sides are in the proportion of the Golden Ratio.
The theory of the Golden Rectangle is an aesthetic one, that the ratio is an
aesthetically pleasing one and so can be found spontaneously or deliberately
turning up in a great deal of art. The front of the Parthenon can be comfortably
framed with a Golden Rectangle. Additional classic subdivisions of the rectangle
align perfectly with major architectural features of the structure.

The Golden Rectangle can be used to create a spiral, the Golden Spiral. Starting
with one Golden Rectangle, a second Golden Rectangle can be attached to the first
using the longest side of the rectangle, side A as the shortest side B of the next
rectangle. To this end the second rectangle is constructed 90 degrees
perpendicular to the first rectangle. If this process is continued, called the spiraling
of the Golden Rectangle, a curved line can be drawn through the corners of the
rectangles creating the Golden Mean spiral. The spiraling of the Golden Mean spiral
continues indefinitely in inward and outward directions, it's getting smaller and
smaller spiraling inwards and getting bigger and bigger spiraling outwards.

Another connection of the Golden Ratio to partial symmetries in nature is through


theFibonacci Numbers. This is a number series where each member is simply the
sum of the previous two numbers. Fibonacci spirals and Golden Mean ratios appear
everywhere in the universe. The spiral is the natural flow form of water when it is
going down the drain. It is also the natural flow form of air in tornadoes and
hurricanes. Here's another beautiful example of a Fibonacci spiral in nature, it's
the Nautilus shell and every book about sacred geometry contains one:

The Great Pyramid of Giza's dimensions are also based on the Golden Ratio. If we
take a cross section of the Great Pyramid, we get a right triangle, the so-called
Egyptian Triangle. The ratio of the slant height of the pyramid (hypotenuse of the
triangle) to the distance from ground center (half the base dimension) is 1.61804
... which differs from phi by only one unit in the fifth decimal place. If we let the
base dimension be 2 units, then the sides of the right triangle are in the proportion
1:sqrt(phi):phi and the pyramid has a height of sqrt(phi).

Leonardo Da Vinci exhibited the golden ratio in many of his paintings and
illustrations calling it the De Divina Proportione or 'divine proportion'. He
conducted an entire exploration of the human body and the ratios of the lengths
of various body parts.

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