The Golden Ratio - Golden Number

The Golden Ratio

What better way to start the second entry than with the famous golden ratio. This mysterious number, also known as the number of beauty or divine proportion due to its applications throughout history.

As a mathematical definition, we find that the golden number is "the equality between the division of two segments of different lengths and the division of the sum of the two segments and the longer segment."

The golden number is mostly represented by the Greek letter phi. There are also associations with the letter tau.

This fascinating number can be found in many places, even in our bodies. Nature is written in a mathematical and geometrical language. For example, the arrangement of the petals of a flower or the shape of a conch shell. In the same way, we humans keep golden proportions throughout our bodies. Here are some examples:

• The ratio of your total height and the distance from the navel to the soles of your feet is the golden ratio.

• The ratios between the lengths of the phalanges of your fingers.

• In the following image you can see that the golden ratio is hidden behind every measurement on our face:

Following these proportions means that objects that are closer to this number will be closer to perfection and beautiful to the human eye.

As for the curiosities surrounding this number, we can see how it has been mentioned since the time of Euclid, the author we have studied, and it is mentioned in his writings on the Elements. On the other hand, nature is surrounded by this number, as well as in our own human body, we can see how the snail shell contains it, as does the core of the apple.

The golden ratio is an amazing aspect of both mathematics and geometry, and I encourage you to investigate it further because of its great contribution to our daily lives.