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The Golden Ratio Essay Example

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The Golden Ratio Essay Example
What is the Golden Ratio?

Most people are familiar with the number Pi because it can be found in so many different math problems and equations. There is, however, another irrational number like Pi. This number isn¡¦t as well known as Pi however. This number is called Phi. This number is also called the golden ratio. The golden ratio is equal to the square root of five plus one, divided by two. If you work this out it comes out as 1.618033988749895. This is also the only number that if squared, is equal to itself plus one. Mathematically speaking, Phi^2 = Phi + 1. Also if you find the reciprocal of Phi, it is equal to itself minus one, Phi^-1 = Phi ¡V 1. The Golden Ratio is the basis for many things in nature. Even ones fingers use the Golden Ratio. First measure the length of the longest finger bone. Then measure the shorter one next to it. Finally if you divide the longer one by the shorter one, you should get a number that is close to 1.168 which is really close to the Golden Ratio. Most parts of the human body are proportional to the Golden Ratio. The Golden Ratio can even be traced back into the times of the Romans and Pyramids. For example, the Great Pyramid of Giza, which was built in 2560 BC, is one of the earliest ways the Golden Ratio was used. The length of each side of the base is 756 feet while the height of the Pyramid when build was 481 feet. If you divide 756 by 481, you would get 1.5717 which is very close to the Golden Ratio. Another good example of the Golden Ratio is in Athens Greece. The Parthenon, which was build during 440 BC, uses the Golden Ratio also. The spaces in between the columns are proportional to the Golden Ratio. This shows that the golden ratio has been used for a very long time. Since the Golden Ratio is an irrational number, it cannot be written as a regular fraction. You could however, get a very close estimate. One of the easiest ways is using the Fibonacci numbers. The Fibonacci numbers is a sequence of

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