1.

The Nature of
Mathematics

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A. Patterns and Numbers in
Nature and the World
Mathematics is a science of
structure, order, and relation that has
evolved from elemental practices of
counting, measuring, and describing
the shapes of objects.

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Patterns and Numbers in
Nature and the World
A pattern is a series or sequence that
repeats. In Math, patterns are
sequences that repeat according to a
rule or rules.

Example 1.1. What is the next figure in

the given pattern?

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Pattern
Example 1.2. What is the next figure in
the given pattern?

Example 1.3. What number comes next

in?
a. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, ____
b. 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, ____
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Types of Pattern
1. Symmetry
a. Symmetry in living things

A tiger show mirror or bilateral symmetry.

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Types of Pattern
1. Symmetry
a. Symmetry in living things

Sea anemones have rotational
symmetry.
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Types of Pattern
1. Symmetry
a. Symmetry in living things

A starfish have fivefold symmetry.

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Types of Pattern
1. Symmetry
b. Symmetry in non-living things

Snowflakes have six fold symmetry.

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Types of Pattern
1. Symmetry
b. Symmetry in non-living things

Fluorite showing cubic crystal habit.

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Types of Pattern
1. Symmetry
b. Symmetry in non-living things

Water splash approximates radial
symmetry.
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Some Famous
Mathematicians
 Johannes Kepler

Kepler found that if you take the cube of the

distance of any planet from the Sun and divide
it by the square of its orbital period, you always
get the same number.
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Some Famous
Mathematicians
 Harold Scott MacDonald "Donald"
Coxeter

He discovered that the arrangement of leaves

around stem or seeds in a sunflower or daisy
face shows a recurring numerical patterns.

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Some Famous
Mathematicians
 Isaac Newton (left) and Gottfried
Wilhelm (von) Leibniz (right)

The physicists went off looking for other

laws of nature that could explain natural
phenomena in terms of rates of change.
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B. Fibonacci Sequence

His full name in Italian is Leonardo

Pisano.
Fibonacci is the shortened word for the
Latin term “filius Bonacci”, which
stands for “son of Bonaccio”.
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B. Fibonacci Sequence
Sequence is a list of things (usually
numbers) that are in order.

The Fibonacci sequence is the series of

numbers:
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, …

The next number is found by adding up

the two numbers before it.
Formula: Fn = Fn-1 + Fn-2
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The Fibonacci spiral

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The Rabbit Population

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C. The Golden Ratio
The golden ratio (symbol is the Greek
letter "phi" , Φ) is a special number
approximately equal to 1.618
Also known as golden mean or golden
section.

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C. The Golden Ratio

The golden ratio is the only number that if you

subtract one from it, you will end up with its own
reciprocal. If you take the ratios of successive
Fibonacci numbers approach the number golden
ratio.

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Example 1.4.
Let Fib(n) be the nth term of the
Fibonacci sequence, with Fib(1)=1,
Fib(2)=1, Fib(3)=2, and so on.
a. Find Fib(8).
b. If Fib(22)=17,711 and
Fib(24)=46,368, what is Fib(23)?
c. What will be the sum of Fib(1) + Fib
(2) + … + Fib(10)?

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