Home

How to Use the Golden Ratio

|
Updated:  
2016-03-26 20:24:57
|
From The Book:  
No items found.
Geometry Essentials For Dummies
Explore Book
Buy On Amazon

The golden ratio is a famous geometry idea with a connection to ancient Greece. (When it came to mathematics, physics, astronomy, philosophy, drama, and the like, those ancient Greeks sure did kick some serious butt.)

image0.png

The figure below shows the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens.

image1.jpg

Built in the fifth century B.C., it is an example of architecture that uses the golden ratio.

image2.png

Then you can divide the smaller rectangle into a square and a rectangle, and then you can divide the next rectangle, and so on, as shown below.

image3.jpg

When you connect the corresponding corners of each similar rectangle, you get a spiral that happens to be the same shape as the spiraling shell of the nautilus — amazing!

About This Article

This article is from the book: 

No items found.

About the book author:

Mark Ryan has more than three decades’ experience as a calculus teacher and tutor. He has a gift for mathematics and a gift for explaining it in plain English. He tutors students in all junior high and high school math courses as well as math test prep, and he’s the founder of The Math Center on Chicago’s North Shore. Ryan is the author of Calculus For Dummies, Calculus Essentials For Dummies, Geometry For Dummies, and several other math books.