PHILIPPINE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
Malate, Manila
1st Sem – S.Y. 2020 - 2021
MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD
FIBONACCI SEQUENCE
The Fibonacci Sequence can be written as a "Rule"
n= 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 ...
xn = 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 144 233 377 ...
The term number 6 is called x6 which is 8.
Example: Find the value of 8th and 9th terms.
Answer: The 8th term (x8) is 21 and 9th term (x9) is 34.
Example: the 8th term is
the 7th term plus the 6th term:
x8 = x7 + x6
So we can write the rule:
The Rule is xn = xn-1 + xn-2
where:
xn is term number "n"
xn-1 is the previous term (n-1)
xn-2 is the term before that (n-2)
Example 1: Term 9 is calculated like this:
x9= x9-1 + x9-2
= x8 + x7
= 21 + 13
= 34
Therefore, the 9th term of the Fibonacci sequence is 34.
Example 2: Find the 10th term of the Fibonacci sequence.
x10= x10-1 + x10-2
= x9 + x8
= 34 + 21
PHILIPPINE CHRISTIAN UNIVERISTY – Manila Mathematics in the Modern World
X10 = 55
GOLDEN RATIO
The golden ratio (symbol is the Greek letter "phi" shown at left) is a special number
approximately equal to 1.618
It appears many times in geometry, art, architecture and other areas.
THE IDEA BEHIND IT
We find the golden ratio when we divide a line into two parts so that:
the long part divided by the short part
is also equal to
the whole length divided by the long part
BEAUTY
This rectangle has been made using the Golden Ratio, Looks like a typical frame for a
painting, doesn't it?
Some artists and architects believe the Golden Ratio makes
the most pleasing and beautiful shape.
Do you think it is the "most pleasing rectangle"?
Maybe you do or don't, that is up to you!
Many buildings and artworks have the Golden Ratio in them, such
as the Parthenon in Greece, but it is not really known if it was
designed that way.
PHILIPPINE CHRISTIAN UNIVERISTY – Manila Mathematics in the Modern World
THE ACTUAL VALUE
The Golden Ratio is equal to: 1.61803398874989484820... (etc.)
The digits just keep on going, with no pattern. In fact the Golden Ratio is known to be an
Irrational Number, and I will tell you more about it later.
Formula
We saw above that the Golden Ratio has this property:
a ab
b a
We can split the right-hand fraction like this:
a a b
b a a
a a b 1
is the Golden Ratio φ, 1 and , which gets us:
a a a
1
1
So the Golden Ratio can be defined in terms of itself!
Let us test it using just a few digits of accuracy:
1
1
1
1
1.618
1 0.61805
1.61805...
With more digits we would be more accurate.
Using The Golden Ratio to Calculate Fibonacci Numbers
And even more surprising is that we can calculate any Fibonacci Number using the Golden
Ratio:
The answer always comes out as a whole number, exactly equal to the addition of the
previous two terms.
PHILIPPINE CHRISTIAN UNIVERISTY – Manila Mathematics in the Modern World
Example:
When I used a calculator on this (only entering the Golden Ratio to 6 decimal places) I got
the answer 8.00000033. A more accurate calculation would be closer to 8.
Try it for yourself!
You can also calculate a Fibonacci Number by multiplying the previous Fibonacci Number by
the Golden Ratio and then rounding (works for numbers above 1):
Example: 8 × φ = 8 × 1.618034... = 12.94427... = 13 (rounded)
PHILIPPINE CHRISTIAN UNIVERISTY – Manila Mathematics in the Modern World
