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CHAPTER 1 Check out examples of some of these patterns and you

MATHEMATICS IN OUR WORLD may be able to spot a few the next time you go for a
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO): walk.
1. Identify patterns in nature and regularities in 1. Patterns can be observed even in stars which
the world. move in circles across the sky each day.
2. Articulate the importance of mathematics in 2. The weather season cycle each year. All
one’s life. snowflakes contains sixfold symmetry which no
3. Argue about the nature of mathematics, what two are exactly the same.
is it, how it is expressed, represented and used.
4. Express appreciation for mathematics as a
human endeavor.

WHAT IS MATHEMATICS?
 Mathematics is the study of pattern and
structure. Mathematics is fundamental to the
physical and biological sciences, engineering 3. Patterns can be seen in fish patterns like
and information technology, to economics and spotted trunkfish, spotted puffer, blue spotted
increasingly to the social sciences. stingray, spotted moral eel, coral grouper,
 Mathematics is a useful way to think about redlion fish, yellow boxfish and angel fish. These
nature and our world. animals and fish stripes and spots attest to
 Mathematics is a tool to quantify, organize and mathematical regularities in biological growth
control our world, predict phenomena and and form.
make life easier for us.

WHERE IS MATHEMATICS?
 Many patterns and occurrences exists in nature,
in our world, in our life. Mathematics helps
make sense of these patterns and occurrences.

WHAT ROLE DOES MATHEMATICS PLAY IN OUR 4. Zebras, tigers, cats and snakes are covered in
WORLD? patterns of stripes; leopards and hyenas are
 Mathematics helps organize patterns and covered in pattern of spots and giraffes are
regularities in our world. covered in pattern of blotches.
 Mathematics helps predict the behavior of
nature and phenomena in the world.
 Mathematics helps control nature and
occurrences in the world for our own ends.
 Mathematics has numerous applications in the
world making it indispensable.

PATTERNS AND NUMBERS IN NATURE AND THE


WORLD 5. Natural patterns like the intricate waves across
Patterns in nature are visible regularities of the oceans; sand dunes on deserts; formation
of typhoon; water drop with ripple and others.
form found in the natural world and can also be seen in
These serves as clues to the rules that govern
the universe. the flow of water, sand and air.
Nature patterns which are not just to be
admired, they are vital clues to the rules that govern
natural processes.

MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD by PMSJR Page 1


6. Other patterns in nature can also be seen in the ball move and jellyfish(dihedral-D4 symmetry). Radial
of mackerel, the v-formation of geese in the sky and symmetry is also evident in different kinds of
the tornado formation of starlings. flowers.

PATTERNS AND REGULARITIES


Mathematics is all around us. As we discover
more about our environment, we can mathematically
describe nature. The beauty of a flower, the majestic
tree, even the rock formation exhibits nature’s sense of
symmetry.
Have you ever thought about how nature likes 2. FRACTALS – a curve or geometric figure, each part
to arrange itself in patterns in order to act efficiently? of which has the same statistical character as the
Nothing in nature happens without a reason, all of whole. A fractal is a never-ending pattern found in
these patterns have an important reason to exist and nature. The exact same shape is replicated in a
they also happen to be beautiful to watch. process called “self similarity.” The pattern repeats
itself over and over again at different scales. For
TYPES OF PATTERNS example, a tree grows by repetitive branching. This
1. SYMMETRY – a sense of harmonious and same kind of branching can be seen in lightning
beautiful proportion of balance or an object is bolts and the veins in your body. Examine a single
invariant to any various transformations fern or an aerial view of an entire river system and
(reflection, rotation or scaling.) you’ll see fractal patterns.
a.) Bilateral Symmetry: a symmetry in which the
left and right sides of the organism can be divided
into approximately mirror image of each other
along the midline. Symmetry exists in living things
such as in insects, animals, plants, flowers and
others. Animals have mainly bilateral or vertical
symmetry, even leaves of plants and some flowers
such as orchids. 3. SPIRALS - A logarithmic spiral or growth spiral is a
self-similar spiral curve which often appears in
nature. It was first describe by Rene Descartes and
was later investigated by Jacob Bernoulli. A spiral is
a curved pattern that focuses on a center point and
a series of circular shapes that revolve around it.
Examples of spirals are pine cones, pineapples,
hurricanes. The reason for why plants use a spiral
form is because they are constantly trying to grow
b.) Radial Symmetry ( or rotational symmetry ): a but stay secure.
symmetry around a fixed point known as the center
and it can be classified as either cyclic or dihedral.
Plants often have radial or rotational symmetry, as
to flowers and some group of animals. A five-fold
symmetry is found in the echinoderms, the group in
which includes starfish (dihedral-D5 symmetry), sea
urchins and sea lilies. Radial symmetry suits
organism like sea anemones whose adults do not

MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD by PMSJR Page 2


FIBONACCI SEQUENCE The sequence encountered in the rabbit problem 1, 1,
The Fibonacci sequence is a series of numbers 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, …. is called
where a number is found by adding up the two numbers the Fibonacci sequence and its terms the Fibonacci
before it. Starting with 0 and 1, the sequence goes 0, 1, numbers.
1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, and so forth. Written as a rule, GOLDEN RECTANGLE
the expression is Leonardo of Pisa also known as Fibonacci
𝑿𝒏 = 𝑿𝒏−𝟏 + 𝑿𝒏−𝟐 discovered a sequence of numbers that created an
interesting numbers that created an interesting pattern
Named after Fibonacci, also known as Leonardo the sequence 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34… each number is
of Pisa or Leonardo Pisano, Fibonacci numbers were obtained by adding the last two numbers of the
first introduced in his Liber Abbaci (Book of Calculation) sequence forms what is known as golden rectangle a
in 1202. The son of a Pisan merchant, Fibonacci traveled perfect rectangle. A golden rectangle can be broken
widely and traded extensively. Mathematics was down into squares the size of the next Fibonacci
incredibly important to those in the trading industry, number down and below. If we were to take a golden
and his passion for numbers was cultivated in his youth. rectangle, break it down to smaller squares based from
Fibonacci sequence and divide each with an arc, the
THE HABBIT RABBIT pattern begin to take shapes, we begin with Fibonacci
One of the book’s exercises which is written like spiral in which we can see in nature.
this “A man put a pair of rabbits in a place surrounded
on all sides by a wall. How many pairs of rabbits are
produced from that pair in a year, if it supposed that
every month each pair produces a new pair, which from
the second month onwards becomes productive?” This
is best understood in this diagram:

FIBONACCI NUMBERS IN NATURE


Flower petals exhibit the Fibonacci number,
white calla lily contains 1 petal, euphorbia contains 2
petals, trillium contains 3 petals, columbine contains 5
petals, bloodroot contains 8 petals, black-eyed susan
contains 13 petals, shasta daisies 21 petals, field daisies
contains 34 petals and other types of daisies contain 55
and 89 petals.

GROWTH OF RABBIT COLONY


ADULT YOUNG
MONTHS TOTAL
PAIRS PAIRS
1 1 1 2
2 2 1 3
3 3 2 5
4 5 3 8
FIBONACCI SEQUENCE IN NATURE
5 8 5 13
The sunflower seed conveys the Fibonacci
6 13 8 21
sequence. The pattern of two spirals goes in opposing
7 21 13 34
directions (clockwise and counter-clockwise ). The
8 34 21 55
number of clockwise spirals and counter clockwise
9 55 34 89 spirals are consecutive Fibonacci numbers and usually
10 89 55 144 contains 34 and 55 seeds.
11 144 89 233
12 233 144 377

MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD by PMSJR Page 3


𝒂+𝒃 𝒂
𝝋= = = 𝟏. 𝟔𝟏𝟖𝟎𝟑𝟑𝟗𝟖𝟕 ….
𝒂 𝒃

b a a/b
2 3 1.5
3 5 1.666666666…
The Fibonacci sequence can also be seen in the 5 8 1.6
way tree branches form or split. A main trunk will grow 8 13 1.625
until it produces a branch, which creates two growth 13 21 1.615384615...
points. Then, one of the new stems branches into two, 21 34 1.61905
while the other one lies dormant. This pattern of 34 55 1.61765
branching is repeated for each of the new stems. A . . .
good example is the sneezewort. Root systems and . . .
even algae exhibit this pattern. 144 233 1.618055556...
233 377 1.618025751...

GOLDEN TRIANGLE
Golden ratio can be deduced in an isosceles
triangle. If we take the isosceles triangle that has the
two base angles of 72 degrees and we bisect one of the
base angles, we should see that we get another golden
triangle that is similar to the golden rectangle. If we
apply the same manner as the golden rectangle, we
should get a set of whirling triangles. With these
GOLDEN RATIO whirling triangles, we are able to draw a logarithmic
Fibonacci discovery of Fibonacci sequence spiral that will converge at the intersection of the two
happened to approach the ratio asymptotically. He lines. The spiral converges at the intersection of the two
found the interesting and mysterious properties of the lines and this ratio of the lengths of these two lines is in
Fibonacci sequence that the series has a deep the Golden Ratio.
relationship with the golden ratio.
The golden ratio was first called as the Divine
Proportion in the early 1500s in Leonardo da Vinci’s
work which was explored by Luca Pacioli entitled “De
Divina Proportione” in 1509. This contains the drawings
of the five platonic solids and it was probably da Vinci
who first called it “section aurea” which is Latin for
Golden Secion.
In mathematics, two quantities are in the
Golden ratio if their ratio is the same of their sum to the
larger of the two quantities. The Golden Ratio is the
relationship between numbers on the Fibonacci
sequence where plotting the relationships on scales
results in a spiral shape. In simple terms, golden ratio is
expressed as an equation, where a is larger than b,
(a+b) divided by a is equal to a divided by b, which is
equal to 1.618033987…and represented by 𝝋 (phi).

MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD by PMSJR Page 4


GOLDEN RATIO IN NATURE
It is often said that math contains the answers
to most of universe’s questions. Math manifests itself
everywhere. One such example is the Golden Ratio.
This famous Fibonacci sequence has fascinated
mathematicians, scientist and artists for many hundreds
of years. The Golden Ratio manifests itself in many
places across the universe, including right here on
Earth, it is part of Earth’s nature and it is part of us.

1. Flower petals
number of petals in a flower is often one of the
following numbers: 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34 or 55. For
example, the lily has three petals, buttercups have five GOLDEN RATIO IN ARTS
of them, the chicory has 21 of them, the daisy has often The golden ratio can be used to achieve beauty,
34 or 55 petals, etc. balance and harmony in art, architecture and design. It
2. Faces can be used as a tool in art and design to achieve
Faces, both human and nonhuman, abound with balance in the composition. Check out some examples
examples of the Golden Ratio. The mouth and nose are of golden ratio in arts.
each positioned at golden sections of the distance 1. The exterior dimension of the Pathernon in
between the eyes and the bottom of the chin. Similar Athens, Greece embodies the golden ratio.
proportions can been seen from the side, and even the
eye and ear itself.
3. Body parts
The Golden Section is manifested in the structure of the
human body. The human body is based on Phi and the
number 5.The number 5 appendages to the torso, in the
arms, leg and head. 5 appendages on each of these, in
the fingers and toes and 5 openings on the face. Animal
bodies exhibit similar tendencies.
4. Seed heads
Typically, seeds are produced at the center, and then 2. In “Timaeus” Plato describes five possible
migrate towards the outside to fill all the space. regular solids that relate to the golden ratio
Sunflowers provide a great example of these spiraling which is now known as Platonic Solids. He also
patterns. considers the golden ratio to be the most
5. Fruits, Vegetables and Trees bringing of all mathematical relationships.
Spiraling patterns can be found on pineapples and
cauliflower. Fibonacci numbers are seen in the
branching of trees or the number of leaves on a floral
stem; numbers like 4 are not. 3’s and 5’s, however, are
abundant in nature.
6. Shells
Snail shells and nautilus shells follow the logarithmic
spiral, as does the cochlea of the inner ear. It can also
3. Euclid was the first to give definition of the
be seen in the horns of certain goats, and the shape of
golden ratio as “a dividing line in the extreme
certain spider’s webs.
and mean ratio” in his book the “Elements”. He
7. Spiral Galaxies
proved the link of the numbers to the
Spiral galaxies are the most common galaxy shape. The
construction of the pentagram, which is now
Milky Way has several spiral arms, each of them a
known as golden ratio. Each intersections to the
logarithmic spiral of about 12 degrees.
other edges of a pentagram is a golden ratio.
8. Hurricanes
Also the ratio of the length of the shorter
It’s amazing how closely the powerful swirls of
segment to the segment bounded by the two
hurricane match the Fibonacci sequence.
intersecting lines is a golden ratio.

MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD by PMSJR Page 5


6. Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino or more popularly
known as Raphael was also a painter and
architect from the Rennaisance. In his painting
“The School of Athens,”, the division between
the figures in the painting and their proportions
are distributed using the golden ration. The
golden triangle and pentagram can also be
found in Raphael’s painting “Crucifixion”.

4. Leonardo da Vinci was into many interests such


as invention, painting, sculpting, architecture,
science, music, mathematics, engineering,
literature, anatomy, geology, botany, writing,
history and cartography. He used the golden
ratio to define the fundamental portions in his
7. The golden ratio can also be found in the works
works. He incorporated the golden ratio in his
of other renowned painters such as
own paintings such as the Vitruvian Man, The
a.) Sandro Botticelli (Birth of Venus);
Last Supper, Monalisa and St. Jerome in the
b.) George-Pierre Surat (“Bathers at
Wilderness.
Assinieres”, “Bridge of Courbevoie” and “A
Sunday on La Grande Jette”), and
c.) Salvador Dali (“The Sacrament of the Last
Supper”).

5. Michaelangelo di Lodovico Simon was


considered the greatest living artists of his time.
He used golden ratio in his painting “The
Creation of Adam” which can be seen on the
ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. His painting used
the golden ratio showing how God’s finger and
Adam’s finger meet precisely at the golden ratio
point of the weight and the height of the area GOLDEN RATIO IN ARCHITECTURE
that contains them. Some of the architectural structures that exhibit
the application of the Golden ratio are the following:
1. The Great Pyramid of Giza built 4700 BC in
Ahmes Papyrus of Egypt is with proportion
according to a “Golden Ratio”. The length of
each side of the base is 756 feet with a height of
481 feet. The ratio of the base to the height is
roughly 1.5717, which is close to the Golden
ratio.

2. Notre Dame is a Gothic Cathedral in Paris,


which was built in between 1163 and 1250. It
appears to have a golden ratio in a number of
its key proportions of designs.

MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD by PMSJR Page 6


3. The Taj Mahal in India used the golden ratio in giving a strong structure with no gaps.
its construction and was completed in 1648. 2. Zebra’s coat, the
The order and proportion of the arches of the alternating pattern of blacks
Taj Mahal on the main structure keep reducing and white are due to
proportionately following the golden ratio. mathematical rules that govern
the pigmentation chemicals of
4. The Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres in Paris, its skin.
France also exhibits the Golden ratio.
3. Spider webs illustrate a
5. In the United Nation Building, the window beautiful pattern. The
configuration reveal golden proportion. spider creates a
structure by
performing innate
6. The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, erected in
steps.
1889 is an iron lattice. The base is broader while
it narrows down the top, perfectly following the
golden ratio.
4. The nautilus shell has
7. The CN Tower in Toronto, the tallest tower and natural pattern which contains
freestanding structure in the world, contains a spiral shape called
the golden ratio in its design. The ratio of logarithmic spiral.
observation deck at 342 meters to the total
height of 553.33 is 0.618 or phi, the reciprocal
of phi. 5. Age of the trees can be
determined by applying
dendrochronology which is a
scientific method of dating based
on the amount of rings found in
the core of a tree.

6. Turtles have growth


rings called “scutes” which
are hexagonal.
Scutes estimates the age
of the turtle.
Smallest scute is in the
center and is the oldest
BEHAVIOR OF NATURE
one, while the largest ones
Behavior of nature can be observed around us.
on the outside are the
Natural regularities of nature:
newer ones.
Symmetry Fractals Spirals
7. Lightning during storms creates fractals. Foam
Trees Meanders Waves
Foams Tessellations Cracks bubbles formed by trapping pockets of gas in a liquid or
Stripes Spots solid.

Golden Ratio can be found in the beauty of


nature, the growth patterns of many plants,
insects, and the universe.

1. Honeycombs of the bees


show specific regular repeating
hexagons. It uses the least
amount of wax to store the honey

MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD by PMSJR Page 7


8. Cracks can also be found on the barks of trees science development includes logic, relations,
which show some sort of weakness in the bark. functions, basic set theory, counting
The meander is one of a series of regular techniques, graph theory, combinatorics,
sinuous curves, bends, loops, turns, or windings discrete probability, recursion, recurrence
in the channel of the body of water. relations and number theory, computer-
oriented numerical analysis and Operation
Research techniques.

5. Cryptography is a combination of both


mathematics and computer science and is
affiliated closely with information theory,
computer security and engineering. It is used in
applications present in technologically
advanced societies, examples include the
APPLICATIONS OF MATHEMATICS IN THE WORLD security of ATM cards, computer passwords and
In our daily life, we use mathematics directly or electronic commerce.
indirectly in various fields. The application of
mathematical methods in different fields such as 6. In archaeology, archaeologists use a variety of
science, engineering, business, computer science mathematical and statistical techniques to
and industry is a combination of mathematical present the data from archaeological surveys
science and specialized knowledge. For example, and try to find patterns to shed on past human
statistics, combinatorics, and graph theory are used behavior an in carbon dating artifacts.
by investigators to solve crimes.
Other applications of mathematics are in
7. In Social Sciences such as economics, sociology,
forensic science, medicine, engineering, information
psychology and linguistics all now make
technology, cryptography, archaeology, social
extensive use of mathematical models, using
sciences, political science and other fields.
the tools of calculus, probability, game theory,
1. In forensic, mathematics is applied specifically
and network theory.
the differential and integral calculus to clarify
the blurred image to clear image. Another
8. In Economics, mathematics such as matrices,
application of calculus is optimization (maximize
probability and statistics are used. The models
or minimize) surface areas, volumes, profit and
may be stochastic or deterministic, linear or
cost analysis, projectile motion, etc.
non-linear, static or dynamic, continuous or
2. In medical field, much of a function of a protein
discrete and all types of algebraic, differential,
is determined by its shape and how the pieces
difference and integral equations arise for the
move. Many drugs are designed to change the
solution of these models.
shape or motions of a protein by modeling
using geometry and related areas.
Mathematics is also being applied in the 9. In political Science, political analysts study past
development of medicine to cure diseases. election results to see changes in voting
patterns and the influence of various factors on
3. In fluid dynamics, engineers use numerical voting behavior or switching of votes among
analysis in phenomena involving heat, political parties and mathematical models for
electricity and magnetism, relativistic Conflict Resolution using Game Theory and
mechanics, quantum mechanics and other Statistics.
theoretical constructs.
10. In music and arts, the rhythm that we find in all
4. In Information Technology, modern computer music notes is the result of innumerable
are invented through the help of mathematics. permutations and combinations. Music
An important area of applications of theorists understand musical structure and
mathematics in the development of formal communicate new ways of hearing music by
mathematical theories related to the applying set theory, abstract algebra, and
development of computer science. Computer number theory.

MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD by PMSJR Page 8

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