The Golden Ratio
For this project we learned about the Golden Ratio.
- The Golden ratio is a special number found by dividing a line into two parts so that the longer part divided by the smaller part is also equal to the whole length divided by the longer part. -LiveScience
I chose to use a Octagon as my shape as I thought it would be simple to work with, and it was. I chose to create a simple design that got a lot of good comments saying simplicity is good and things of that sort. People liked that it was simple and easy to see the connecting lines. I measured each mark on each side of the shape in .5, 1 and 1.5 increments. Each of these giving the illusion of the shape either becoming bigger or smaller. Two habits of a mathematician I used were finding patterns to find a way to make the illusion of smaller and bigger shapes and collaboration as my table and I bounced ideas off of each other for possible designs. One habit of heart and mind I used was integrity since I had to catch up on this project due to internship, I did the majority of it in one day on my own. I'm happy with the result as it looks like what I envisioned it to be. One thing I could do next time is design it in photoshop so it looks a lot cleaner and neater. As I said before I did a lot of the work in one day due to internships setting me back which would be a low. If I had more time, it could have looked a little bit better meaning a different design or more colors. A high of this project was being able to understand the Golden Ratio and the Fibonacci Sequence as that was the core of the project. The Fibonacci Sequence is basically the two previous numbers added together equaling the sum of the next number. An example is 1+1=2 1+2=3 3+1=4 etc. This is important to me for a couple reasons. It can be used to predict a growing rate, for example it calculates and represents the growth of rabbit populations. It can also be seen in nature but mostly in flowers as the amount of pedals on one is usually a number in the sequence. It can be used to create an illusion by making objects seem larger and smaller. Take my shape for example, it looks like some shapes are smaller than others but, in reality it is the same outer shape just twisted and manipulated inside of it to look offset.