Maths in Nature

Have you ever wondered why flowers have a certain amount of petals or a pineapple has spirals? Well, it is all to do with Maths and a special sequence of numbers!

How many petals are there on each of the flowers?

Photos courtesy of Jill Britton, mathematics instructor, Camosun College in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Do you recognise these numbers? 1 petal white calla lily 2 Petals euphorbia 3 Petals trillium 5 Petals columbine 8 petals bloodroot 13 petals black-eyed Susan 21 petals shasta daisy 34 petals field daisies Do you recognise these numbers?

There is a special number sequence which was discovered over 800 years ago by an Italian mathematician called Leonardo Fibonacci. It is called the Fibonacci sequence. Can you spot the pattern? 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89……………

I wonder what happens if we look at other things in nature!

Pineapples Count the spirals on your pineapple. How many do you have? Try counting them in a different way…

Pine Cones Count the spirals on your pine cone. How many do you have?

Sunflowers Count the spirals on your picture. How many do you have?

Distribution of seed heads in a sunflower 2 1 3 5 8 13 21 34 Click to view Click to view

F = 2 √5 +1 The Golden Ratio Or F = 1.618033989… 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89… √5 +1 2 F = What does it mean? How do we get this? Or F = 1.618033989…

Look familiar? An ear Space Nautilus Shell Kate Moss Eggs A rose Mona Lisa Parthenon in Greece