David Ye 5/7/14

CSCI 150 Discrete Mathematics Professor Mahmoodian

Math Paper on Fibonaccis Numbers & the Golden Ratio (Phi)
Abstract: My math paper will be discussing the history behind the Fibonaccis Sequence
and an explanation for how the sequence works. ). I will also go over a few of the Summation
identities for the numbers . I followed up with an explanation of the Golden ratio ,Phi . While
it is not necessarily implemented, it is still interesting to see how the Fibonacci sequence has
random occurrences throughout everyday life.
History of Leonardo Fibonacci Pisano :
Fibonacci, born Leonardo Pisano ( of Pisa ) was an Italian mathematician born between
1170 and 1180 in Pisa, Italy. His father Guglielmo whose nickname was Bonacci (good
natured in Italian), was a secretary of Pisa and had a diplomatic post in North Africa as a
merchant. His mother passed away when he was 9, which led him to follow his father on his
travels. Pisano followed his father into North Africa where he began his studies in arithmetic and
became a budding mathematician. When he reached adulthood, Pisano figured that studying
Arabic Roman numerals was simpler than Roman numerals and decided to set off on his own to
study under world renowned Arab mathematicians. His travels led him around the Mediterranean
Sea and into various countries throughout Eastern Europe, including Syria, Greece, France and
Spain.
Leonardo returned to Pisa in his early 30s around the year 1200 and introduced numerous
important mathematical texts to the people living in Western Europe. These texts introduced the
Christian European world to the use of the Arabic decimal system which made counting and
arithmetic much easier from then on. His texts included Practica geometriae(written in 1220),
Flos(1225) , Liber quadratorum and perhaps his most famous book of all, Liber abaci(1202).
Liber abaci was one of the first texts Leonardo ever wrote and contained the well-known
Fibonacci Sequence.
The Fibonacci Sequence:
Following its introduction in 1202, the sequence became famous throughout the world
and was forever known as Fibonaccis sequence (or numbers). Leonardos fathers last name was
Bonacci hence the name Fibonacci meant son of Bonaccio. In his book, Liber abaci, Leonardo
describes an interesting problem that involved the sequence: How many pairs of rabbits will be
produced in a year, beginning with one pair of rabbits (1 male and 1 female), if every month each
pair produces another pair which becomes productive from the second month on?
The solution to this problem can easily be deduced by following the sequence: the first
and second months with have 1 pair a piece and continue to rise rapidly until the 12
th
month. In
the end, we are left with a sequence that starts off with 1 and ends with the 12
th
term which is
144. Fibonacci deduced that the numbers were part of a recurring sequence that could be defined
by the following equation:
Preset values: F(0) = 0 and F(1) = 1
Equation: F(n) = F(n-1) + F(n-2)
F(0) F(1) F(2) F(3) F(4) F(5) F(6) F(7) F(8) F(9) F(10) F(11) F(12)
0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 144
Some Summation Identities:
The original recurrence equation: F(n) = F(n-1) + F(n-2) can be manipulated to give the
following summation identities.
1) The sum of the first Fibonacci numbers up to the (nth) number is
equal to the (n + 2)th Fibonacci number minus 1.
Ex : for n = 3 -> F(1) + F(2) +F(3) = F(5) 1. [ 1+1+2 = 5-1 ]
2) The sum of the first odd Fibonacci numbers up to F(2n-1) is the
(2n)th Fibonacci number
Ex : for n = 5 - > F(1) + F(3) + F(5) + F(7) +F(9) = F(10). [ 1+2+5+13+34 = 55]
3) The sum of the first even Fibonacci numbers up to F(2n) is the
(2n+1)th Fibonacci number minus 1.
Ex : for n = 5 -> F(2) + F(4) + F(6) + F(8) + F(10) = F(11) -1. [1+3+8+21+55 = 89-1]

Relation to the Golden Ratio:
Since long ago, mathematicians have been using a ratio which we now know as the Golden Ratio
otherwise known as the Greek symbol, . The ratio was first mentioned in Euclids Elements
which states a straight line is said to have been cut
in extreme and mean ratio when, as the whole line is to the greater segment, so is the
greater to the less.

EX: 233/144 = (233+144) / 233 = 1.618.
Whats interesting about the Fibonacci numbers is that you can take any of the two consecutive
numbers in sequence and divide them by one another, you would inch closer and closer to the
value of Phi. This ratio has since been used by architects and artists to plan out the perfect
landscape for their work and pops up all over the place in everyday life.
Interesting occurrences of the Fibonacci sequence in nature:
Seeds and spirals on a flower head:
The seeds on the head of a flower reflect the Fibonacci sequence through a spiral. When flower
first blooms, the seeds are produced and tightly packed at the center. Eventually, the seeds spread
out in an alternating spiral formation that follows the Fibonacci
sequence.
An example is shown in this yellow sunflower. The furthermost ring
has a total of 21 spirals while the penultimate ring has 13 spirals. If
the flower were larger, the spirals would continue to increase rapidly,
while following the numbers in the Fibonacci sequence (34, 55, 89 etc.). The number of spirals
in the outermost ring divided by the spirals in the penultimate ring will always equal or approach
the Golden Ratio.
Branches on a tree:
When someone observes a tree, they can easily map out a diagram that has the same likelihood
as the Fibonacci sequence, (assuming the tree is not damaged or missing branches). A tree starts
off with a single branch and at each level, the
branches will split off and continue to grow. This pattern
reflects the increasing numbers in the Fibonacci
sequence. This sequence helps trees grow out in the
most beneficial way: by allowing the most sunlight to
reach its surface without overlapping the branches and causing harm to itself.