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Fibonacci Sequence and The Golden Ratio

The Fibonacci sequence is defined by Fn = Fn-2 + Fn-1, where F1 = 1 and F2 = 1. The ratio of successive terms approaches the golden ratio, φ ≈ 1.618, as n increases. The golden ratio can be used to approximate later terms in the Fibonacci sequence by multiplying earlier terms by φ. There is also a precise formula to calculate any term in the Fibonacci sequence using φ. The golden ratio and Fibonacci sequence appear often in nature.

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Melvin John Gualberto
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43 views7 pages

Fibonacci Sequence and The Golden Ratio

The Fibonacci sequence is defined by Fn = Fn-2 + Fn-1, where F1 = 1 and F2 = 1. The ratio of successive terms approaches the golden ratio, φ ≈ 1.618, as n increases. The golden ratio can be used to approximate later terms in the Fibonacci sequence by multiplying earlier terms by φ. There is also a precise formula to calculate any term in the Fibonacci sequence using φ. The golden ratio and Fibonacci sequence appear often in nature.

Uploaded by

Melvin John Gualberto
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The Fibonacci Sequence and the Golden Ratio

Fibonacci Sequence ={ 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987,
…}

𝑭𝟏 = 𝟏

𝑭𝒏 = 𝑭𝒏−𝟐 + 𝑭𝒏−𝟏 ; 𝒏 ≥ 𝟐

Let’s talk more about the Fibonacci sequence and the golden ratio. You might be
wondering what the golden ratio is.

Golden ratio, denoted by phi (Φ) – is the limit of the ratio of the successive terms in
the Fibonacci sequence.

1
So, if we take the 2nd term and divided by the first term: 1 = 1

𝐹 2 𝐹 3 𝐹5 5 𝐹 13
If we take 𝐹3 = 1 = 1; 𝐹4 = 2 = 1.5 ; = 3 = 1.667; 𝐹6 = = 1.625;
2 3 4 5 8

21 34 55 89
= 1.61538; 21 = 1.61904; 34 = 1.61765; 55 = 1.61818;
13

Looking that, 𝑭𝒏 = 𝑭𝒏−𝟐 + 𝑭𝒏−𝟏 ; 𝒏 ≥ 𝟐


as this sequence progresses, what is the
ratio of the successive term by the previous term?

You can notice that it’s approaching 1.618, if we try a few more, let’s say we take
144 233
= 1.617978 , 144 = 1.61805
89

So, the Golden Ratio is approximately 1.618, it’s not the exact value but it rounds to
that value. Now, let’s think about what this means.

As 𝒏 becomes sufficiently large, the Fibonacci Sequence approaches or


approximates a geometric sequence.

1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987,…

Starting from F12=144, if we multiply it by the golden ratio ≈ 1.618, we can get 233.

144 𝑥 1.618 = 232.992 ≈ 𝟐𝟑𝟑


So, if take 377 multiplied by 1.618, we can approximate the next term to be 609.986
or 610. We can confirm that by adding 377+233 =610.

So, the Golden Ratio helps us to get the next term in the sequence.

Now, you can also go backwards, if you take 233 and multiply it by 0.618, it will give
you 144.

233 x 0.618 =143.994 ≈ 144


144 x 0.618 =88.992 ≈ 89

1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233,...

Note: You can only do this for n is very large. If you try to do this in the smaller numbers
in the Fibonacci sequence, it’s not gonna work well. So, when n>12, then you can use
the golden ratio to approximate the next term in the sequence.

Now, where did we get these numbers 0.618 and 1.618? Where do they come from?
Here’s the exact values of the two numbers:

√𝟓 + 𝟏
= 1.618033989 ≈ 1.618
𝟐

√𝟓 − 𝟏
= 0.618033988 ≈ 0.618
𝟐

How can we get those exact values of the next term in the Fibonacci Sequence?

We know that, F12=144, knowing that, what is the value of F20? How can you estimate
or compute the exact value of F20, instead of just adding the numbers in the sequence?
Keep in mind that when 𝒏 is very large, the Fibonacci Sequence approaches the
geometric sequence, so, when we say that

8
√5 + 1
𝐹20 = 𝐹12 ( )
2
8
√5+1
= 144 ( ) = 6,764.93479 ≈ 𝟔, 𝟕𝟔𝟓
2

*We need to multiply the F12 by the golden ratio 8 times to get F20.
Now, let’s check:

144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, 4181, 6765,…

Our answer is indeed correct.

Moreover, it turns out that there’s a formula where you can calculate the exact value
of this number 6,765, and here it is:

𝒏 𝒏
(𝟏 + √𝟓) − (𝟏 − √𝟓)
𝑭𝒏 =
𝟐𝒏 √𝟓

Now, let’s try using the above formula to compute F20:

𝟐𝟎 𝟐𝟎
(𝟏 + √𝟓) − (𝟏 − √𝟓)
𝑭𝟐𝟎 =
𝟐𝟐𝟎 . √𝟓

𝑭𝟐𝟎 = 𝟔, 𝟕𝟔𝟓
Now, let’s try computing F16:

𝟏𝟔 𝟏𝟔
(𝟏 + √𝟓) − (𝟏 − √𝟓)
𝑭𝟏𝟔 =
𝟐𝟏𝟔 . √𝟓

𝑭𝟏𝟔 = 𝟗𝟖𝟕

Therefore, using the above formula, you can compute any number in the Fibonacci
Sequence.

Now, there’s another interesting thing about Fibonacci Sequence that we can further
talk about. Let’s focus on the number F13. F13 is the number between F12 and F14, since
the Fibonacci sequence approximate the geometric sequence when 𝒏 is large,

𝐹13 ≈ √𝐹12 𝑥𝐹14


𝐹13 ≈ √144 𝑥377 = 232.997 ≈ 233

So, when n is large, the middle number approximates the geometric mean of the
previous term and the successive term. We can do this with another number, for
instance,

𝐹17 ≈ √𝐹16 𝑥𝐹18


𝐹17 ≈ √687 𝑥2584 = 1596.999687 ≈ 1597
Now, let’s talk about how we can divide the values of the golden ratio, these numbers
1.618 and 0.618. We’re gonna start with this:

We know that 𝑭𝒏 = 𝑭𝒏−𝟐 + 𝑭𝒏−𝟏


𝐹𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑎 𝑏𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑜 𝑟 𝑛
The reason for that:

1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377


If we multiply the golden ratio, what we call 𝒓, which is 1.618, it will give us 233, then
233 x 1.618 =377. Therefore,

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