Parkland College

A with Honors Projects Honors Program

2010

The Fibonacci Sequence

Recommended Citation
Avagyan, Arik, "The Fibonacci Sequence" (2010). A with Honors Projects. 9.
http://spark.parkland.edu/ah/9

Open access to this Article is brought to you by Parkland College's institutional repository, SPARK: Scholarship at Parkland. For more information,
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 Avagyanl

Arik Avagyan

MATH -129

Vicki Beitler

Fibonacci Sequence

Introduction:

Fibonacci sequence is one of the most famous series of numbers in all of the mathematics. The

number sequence is named after Leonardo Fibonacci, who first introduced it to western

European mathematics in his 1202 book Liber Abaci, although it may have been previously

known by ancient Indian mathematics. In mathematical terms, the sequence Fn of Fibonacci

numbers is defined by the recurrence relation

With seed values

F0 = 0 and FI = 1

As we can see, the first two Fibonacci numbers are 0 and 1, and each subsequent number is the

sum of the previous two. The sequence looks like this:

0, 1 7 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, . . .

Some mathematicians omit zero form the Fibonacci sequence, starting it with two 1's. The first

zero is known as the zeroth Fibonacci number, and has no real practical merit.

Origins:

The Fibonacci sequence was known in Indian mathematics independently of the West, but

scholars differ on the timing of its discovery. First the Fibonacci sequence was noticed by

Pingala, who introduced it in his book Chandasastra. Later, the number sequence is associated

with Indian mathematics; Virahanka, Gopala and Hemachadra. According to Parmanand Singh

Virahanka was "the first authority who explicitly gave the rule for the formation" of the

Fibonacci numbers. In contrast, Rachel Hall only mentions Hemachandra among these authors as

having worked with Fibonacci numbers; she claims that around 1150, Hemachandra noticed that

the number of possible rhythms followed the Fibonacci sequence.

In west the sequence was first introduced by Leonardo Fibonacci, who relates the exponential

growth of the pair of rabbits with Fibonacci number. The problem is as follows:

Let's say we have two rabbits. These rabbits are able to mate at the age of one month so that at

the end of its second month a female can produce another pair of rabbits. The new pair of rabbits

also mates at the age of one month, and after another month etc. The rabbits never die, and

mating pair always produces a new pair. So how many pairs will be at the end of the nth month?

Here is a diagram:
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time 0
(months)

pairs 1 1 2 3 5 8

As we can see the number of pairs, as time goes up, is the Fibonacci sequence. After 5th month

there are 8 pairs, and after the nth month the number of pairs of rabbits is equal to the number of

new pairs (which is the number of pairs in month n-2) plus the number of pairs alive last month.

This is the nth Fibonacci number.

The mathematics of Fibonacci numbers:

Besides the definition shown above the Fibonacci numbers can be represented in many

other ways. Here are a few examples of its sum identities:

i- 0 The sum of the first n Fibonacci numbers is equal to the (n+2) th number

minus 1.

f = nFn+2 - Fn+3 + 2
i=0
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n
y Fi = FnFn+i
i=o The sum of the squares of the first n Fibonacci numbers is the multiple of the

« th and(n+l) th Fibonacci numbers.

Furthermore, Fibonacci numbers obey many mathematical formulas and relations:

The Fibonacci numbers obey the negation formula

the addition formula

\ f-n + Lm Fn ).

where ^ is a Lucas number, where L* = Ln-\ if,-: with *-i ~~ 'and ^ = -\e subtraction

formula

• i i1.. IV fjr / - / r \ •) \ / \ m *-« *-»r • fl /i

the fundamental identity

conjugation relation

successor relation
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double-angle formula

• 2 n "~ * n *-f i •

multiple-angle recurrence

<n-li ~ (~ \)

multiple-angle formulas

> ::

t
,=u
k

fort wen

:*•:
for A: odd
1=1)

• •

For only n >l the extension

product expansions
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F m F B = -J

and

square expansion,

and power expansion

I ^ik\a—-:,,,,
I V '"*" }
for/t odd
"»_jft, fort even.

Here are given the general relations,

fn-m F M _i Fm -f Fn Fm+i

fa*i)n = F n _i F^n + F,, Ft,,,i

Fn = F/F n -/*i +F/-i F B _/.

In the case / = M - / + 1, then / = (« + 1 )/2 and for n odd,

Similarly, for n even,

Furthermore, Fibonacci numbers have many properties. Some of them are fascinating,

For example, every 3rd Fibonacci number is an even number, because 3rd Fibonacci number is 2.

To put it more generally, every A>th Fibonacci number is a multiple of F(k). Moreover, every real

positive number n can be represented by the sum of Fibonacci numbers, using one number at

most once.

Relation to the Golden Ratio:

In mathematics and arts, two quantities are in the golden ratio if the ratio between the

sum of those quantities and the larger one is the same as the ratio between the larger one and the

smaller. The golden ration is referred to with the letter cp and approximated as

1.6180339887...

The best way to understand this is by using line segment:

B
If we arrange A and B such that - = <p then (A + B}/B = <p too.

There are many ways in which the Fibonacci sequence is related to the golden ratio. The main

relation is that the further you look at the terms of the sequence, the ratio of the two successive

values of terms of Fibonacci sequence becomes closer and closer to golden ratio. The table

below shows this.

First number Second number _ . Second number

1 1 1.0000

1 2 2.0000

2 3 1.5000

3 5 1.6667

5 8 1.6000

8 13 1.6250

13 21 1.6154

21 34 1.6190

34 55 1.6176

55 89 1.6182

89 144 1.6180

As we can see the ratio of the twelfth and eleventh terms is equal to the golden ratio by four

decimal places. As we go further, the ration limit of two successive terms approaches the golden

ratio (f:

ton _, ,
»—<» F(n)

Furthermore, we can describe this graphically by using squares. Let's take a 1 on 1 square, then

add another square to it with the same side. This will create a rectangle with sides 2 and 1. Then

we add another square with the side equal to 2. Subsequently, we add more squares whose sides

are equal to the longest sides of the resulting rectangles. Here is the picture of the first 6 squares.
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1 1

We see that the side of the next square is equal to the sum of the sides of previous two squares.

The sequence of the length of the sides of successive squares is Fibonacci number. Furthermore,

if we draw a quarter circle in each square we get a Fibonacci spiral like this:

Occurrence in Nature:

The greatest mystery revolving around Fibonacci sequence is that it occurs in many

places in Nature. This is the main reason why it is so famous. Fibonacci numbers appear in

nature in different ways. A good example would be the curved section of sea shells. Here is the

sketch on the x and y axis of Nautilus shell.

We can see that the spiral part crosses at 1 2 5 on the positive axis, and 0 1 3 on the negative

axis. If we look more closely, we notice the oscillatory part of the shell crosses at 0 1 1 2 3 5 on

the positive axis, which are the first 6 numbers of Fibonacci sequence! Furthermore, as the spiral

grows, it approximately becomes a Fibonacci spiral.

Another example is the petals of flowers. The number of petals on a flower that still has all of

its petals intact and has not lost any, for many flowers is a Fibonacci number. Although there are

species that have very precise number of petals, most of the flowers have petals, whose numbers

are very close to those above, with the average being a Fibonacci number. For example, the

flowers that have two or four petals are not common, while there are thousands of species that

have one, three or five petals. Here is a list of some common flowers:
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• 3 petals: lily, iris

• 5 petals: buttercup, wild rose, larkspur, columbine (aquilegia)

• 8 petals: delphiniums

• 13 petals: ragwort, corn marigold, cineraria,

• 21 petals: aster, black-eyed susan, chicory

• 34 petals: plantain, pyrethrum

• 55, 89 petals: michaelmas daisies, the asteraceae family

The last two examples are generalized, as because of the likelihood of under-

development and over-development those flowers may end up with a few less or more petals.

In addition, Fibonacci numbers can be seen in the patterns of florets in the head of

sunflowers. The sunflower displays florets in spirals in clockwise and counter-clockwise

directions.

As shown in the picture, there are 21 florets in clockwise direction, and 34 in counter-clockwise

direction. The numbers 34 and 55 are 9th and 10th numbers in the Fibonacci sequence.

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In addition, Fibonacci numbers occur in our human bodies. Let's take human hand for

example. Every human has two hands, each one of these has five fingers, each finger has three

parts which are separated by two knuckles. All of these numbers fit into the sequence.

In the picture the length of each part of the finger is a Fibonacci number. This example

may be a coincidence, considering how close each of the lengths to the corresponding Fibonacci

number is. However, we can safely assume that most of the human hands are very close to this

one.

The more astonishing example would be the human DNA. DNA is a nucleic acid that

contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living

organisms, with the exception of some viruses. The main role of DNA molecules is the long-

term storage of information. Our bodies grow according to this information stored in the DNA of

our every cell. Here is the picture of the cut section of human DNA:
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As we see, the DNA looks like the chain of bounded small circles. It measures 34

angstroms long by 21 angstroms wide for each full cycle of its double helix spiral. 34 and 21, of

course, are numbers in the Fibonacci series.

Of course, these are only some of the many examples of Fibonacci numbers in nature.

With the advancement of technology, scientists are able to view different galaxies, and the

astonishing thing is that one category of those galaxies, which are called spiral galaxies,

resembles Fibonacci spiral. Here is the picture of M51 galaxies, which is also known as The

Whirlpool Galaxy:
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If we look closely, we can notice two spiral patterns, and each one of them is

approximately a Fibonacci spiral!

The Fibonacci sequence retains a mystique, partly because excellent approximations of it

turn up in many unexpected places in nature. The Fibonacci numbers appear in many other

unexpected contexts in mathematics, and they continue to spark interest in the scientific

community.