Monday, January 14, 2008

Fibonacci Experiment

Please comment on what you learned from the Fibonacci Experiment.

Read what other wrote also.

25 comments:

Katie said...

You derive the numbers 1,1,2,3,8 by adding a number and the one the proceeds it. 1+1=2, 1+2=3, 2+3=8 and so on. To get the decimal numbers you divide a number and the one that proceeds it. 2/1=2, 3/2=1.5, 5/3=1.666666, 8/5=1.6 and so on. The red rectangles represent the divided numbers. They look very similar in size but there are slight differences. Similar to the rectangles, the decimals are all very close but no exactly the same. I'm not sure what the blue rectangles represent. I also understand how to get the numbers in the Fibonacci Experiment but I'm not sure what it actually means.

Anonymous said...

I did the Fibonacci experiment. I didn't quite entirely understand what was said at the class. However, after doing the experiment a few times (with different wait times) and a little reading, I was able to come to the following understanding.

How to derive the numbers 1,1,2,3,5,8,?
Start with 1, and add the number before which is zero, 1+0= 1. Now add the number before the new one which is 1 so 1+1=2, 2+1=3 3+2=5 and so on. Just add the new number and the one before it to get the next number.

How to derive the numbers 2,1.5,1.66?

To get 2 divide 2 by the previous number (1) 2/1=2. Do the same for the next numbers. 3/2=1.5. 5/3=1.6667 and so on. Just divide the higher number with the immediate lower number.

What does the red rectangle mean?
I think the red rectangle is the physical representation of the answers of when you divide 2/1 3/2, 5/3 and so on. The blue rectangle is constant but the red ones go up and down based on the answer of the divides. The fluctuation of the ratio between the red and blue parts is getting closer to the golden ratio. The Golden ratio states that the whole rectangle is equal to the ratio of the blue and red rectangle combined.

Do the red rectangles look the same?
No, close but they are different lengths.

Are they exactly the same? What is the connection?
No. The connection as I see it is that the red side is expanding and contracting short, long, short, long, until the ratio of the blue rectangle and the red one is close to the golden ratio. The blue rectangle are constant throughout. The ratios between the size of the blue and the size of the red are slightly changing.

Anonymous said...

To derive the numbers 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 (etc) of the Fibonacci Sequence, you add each number to the one before it to get the next. So 0+1=1, 1+1=2, 2+1=3, and so on. To derive the numbers 2, 1.5, 1.6666667, 1.6, and on, you divide each number by the previous number; for example, 2/1=2, 3/2=1.5, and it goes on. I think that the red rectangles in SeeLogo represent the numbers of the sequence divided (2, 1.5, etc). Therefore, the red rectangles are not all the same size but change slightly. The difference is hard to see because the numbers are changing only slightly each time. While I understand this, and the sequence is beginning to make sense, I am still having trouble finding the significance in the Fibonacci Sequence and the Golden Ratio.

Anonymous said...

To get the whole numbers you must take the first number, then add it with the next number to create the third. You then take the second number and add it with the third to make the fourth...etc. (0+1=1, 1+1=2, 1+2=3, 3+2=5). To derive the next set of numbers you divide the second number with the first, then the third number with the second, and so on... (2/1=2, 3/2=1.5, 5/3=1.6666).

The blue rectangles seem to all be the same size... the red fluctuates, bigger then smaller then bigger then smaller, etc... If you look at the corresponding decimal those also fluctuate, bigger then smaller then bigger then smaller, etc... although the change is minute.

I don't know what the connection is.

Anonymous said...

I had a hard time understanding the Fibonacci experiment. The way it was explained in class was unclear to me, but after looking at the Fibonacci program I began to understand it a little better. You start off by making a list of numbers. The series of numbers starts off with 0, next comes the number 1. You find the rest of the series by adding each number to the number which precedes it, for example: 0+1=1, 1+1=2, 1+2=3, etc. In doing that you will come up with a series which looks like this: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, etc. The next step is to divide each number by the number preceding it, for example: 2/1=2, 3/2=1.5, 5/3=1.6667, 8/5=1.6, etc. From this you get a list of relatively similar numbers. These numbers are represented via the red rectangles in the SeeLogo document. They are close to one another but vary slightly and seem to fluctuate between higher and lower decimals. I believe the decimals represented by the red rectangles are converging to the number which represents the Golden Ratio, which (according to Wikipedia) is 1.6180339887. The blue rectangles, on the other hand, remain constant. I am not entirely clear on the significance of the blue rectangles but I believe they have something to do with combining with the red rectangles to form the Golden Ratio.

Anonymous said...

In the Fibonacci Experiment you get your numbers by adding 1+1=2, then 2+1=3, then continuing in the same pattern you do 2+3=5 and so on. The experiment on here helped me to understand it better then I understood it in class. I don't think I completely have it down but I understand it much more now.

Anonymous said...

In class, I understood the premise of the Fibonacci theory. Beginning with 0, one adds 1 to the previous base number(resulting in 0+1=1), and continues this pattern (resulting in 1+1=2, 1+2=3, etc.)

Further, one then takes the base number as the denominator to the subsequent number (2/1 =2) (3/2=1.5) and this pattern continues to give a series of fractions--which may then be converted into decimals, that oscillate around approx. 1.6


In the corresponding rectangles provided by the SeeLogo visual representation, there are two colored portions to each rectangle.

Though the rectangles vary in length, the blue portion of each rectangle is equal throughout all of the number proportions.
Therefore it's the red portion of the rectangle that can be inferred to correspond with any change in the number sequence.

I do not intrinsically know what the relation is between the ratios and the resulting rectangles. However, when I take into account the principle of the Golden Ratio that was briefly touched upon in class then the rectangle representation can then be seen as a visual depiction of how close the corresponding ratio is to the Golden ratio.

In math, 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. Therefore, the segment seen as the blue part of of the rectangle may be called the "a" segment of the golden ratio and the following red segment may be seen as the "b" segment of the ratio if plugged into the equation "a+b" is to "a" as "a" is to "b".

Anonymous said...

The Fibonacci experiment is a pattern created by adding any number and its proceeding number. For example, 1,1,2,3,8,13,21,34,55. From other blog posts I have gathered that the red rectangles represent the divided numbers, something that I was unaware of until now. The rectangles appear to be very similar, but like the numbers they represent, each is slightly larger, smaller, or different. At this point I haven't fully grasped the significance of the Fibonacci experiment. However, the fact that the sequence has emerged throughout history in so many walks of nature and design makes it obvious that the fibonacci pattern is a mathmatical idea soundly based in our natural world. Now that I am aware of its existence, I am sure I will notice how often I encounter it in life.

Anonymous said...

These ratios are converging to the Golden Ratio, getting closer and closer to making the red rectangle the same shape as the overall rectangle.

Anonymous said...

Fibonacci sequence starts with 1, then adds it self to the last number in the sequence, being 0. making one. Then adding 1 to the last number, 1, makes 2, then 2 and 1 makes 3, then 3 and two makes five and so on...
Then you take the numbers in these sequnce and divide them with their previous numbers, 2 divided by 1 gives you 2, 3 divided by 2 gives you 1.5, five divided by 3 gives you 1.6 (repeating). I understand that the rectangles represent how they are trying to get closer in size, but i have trouble grasping how the change in the red rectangle isnt in a recoginzeable pattern

Anonymous said...

everyone here has already said what I would say about how the numbers are derived. I'm still slightly confused about why the fibonacci pattern is important tho.

Anonymous said...

I thought the "Fibonacci" Experiment was pretty intimidating compared to all the other stuff we had to do for this assignment. Once I played around with it for a while it didn't seem too bad. To get the numbers 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, etc. you add the number to the one that comes before it-like 0+1=1, 1+1=2, 2+1=3, 3+2=5, 5+3=8, 8+5=13, etc...

To get the numbers 2, 1.5, 1.6666667, 1.6, etc. you divide the number by the one that comes before it (as opposed to adding like in the first example)2/1=2, 3/2=1.5, 5/3=1.6666667, etc.

I guess the red rectangles in represent the divided values. They aren't all the same size, they vary little by little.

I think I pretty much understood the exercise but I don't really get the entire concept of this sequence and where it's going to lead us...

Anonymous said...

All right, let's see here. First, to derive the first numbers (1,1,2,3, etc) you must add the first number to the one after that, and then the next number to the one before that, and so on, and so forth. (1+1=2, 1+2=3, 2+3=8)

In order to get to the decimals you need to divide the last number by the one that proceeds it, and so on, and so forth for the entire sequence. (2/1=2, 3/2=1.5, 5/3=1.666666)

I believe the red rectangles represent the decimal values in a visual proportion. For example, the top rectangle sequence is 1/1 so each section is equal, yet as we move down the line the proportions change slightly according to the division of each section. The rectangles look very similar, yet they are not the same size for the proportions are equal to the corresponding decimal expression, which, are very close to each other in size, but differ accrodingly.

Douglas said...

The Fibonacci experiment was fascinating to me. After watching the Disney video, it really enhanced my understanding of the "golden ratio." Having worked in construction most of my life, it was interesting to see how architects and carpenters and masons need to know about how these things relate to each other.

A.J. said...

To derive the numbers 1,1,2,3,5,8...you add a number and the number that comes before it. To derive the decimals you must divide a number by the number that proceeds it..2/1=2 and 3/2= 1.5. The rectangles are a visual representation of the proportions of the numbers being divided. They change according to the differing divisions. The blue seems to remain constant and the red changes, but only in slight variations.

Anonymous said...

I actually like the Fibonacci experiment because I understand it. That's rare for me with math. In order to come to the numbers 1,2,3,8... you must start with 0 and add 1 to it. Then add 1 to 1, and with this answer of 2, add the preceding 1 to make 3. With 3, add the preceding 2, to make 5. With 5, add the preceding 3 to get 8. For the decimal numbers, you divide the 2 by 1, then divide 3 by 2 to get 1.5, 5 by 3 to get 1.66666, and 8 by 5 to get 1.6. So, the number at hand is divided by the previous number in the sequence.
I have to admit I'm confused as to what the red rectangle means. The red rectangles all look very similar through most of the experiment but vary in size at the end. However, from the experiment and what we learned in class, I realize that as the numbers at hand were getting higher, there was more balance between the blue and red rectangles, ultimately leading towards the golden ratio.

kathryn said...

I couldn't do the experiment in Seelogo because something was funky. However, I do understand the basic concept of the Fibonacci sequence. Starting with 0, 1, you then add the last number in the sequence to its previous number, thus deriving the next to come. 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, etc. In order to determine the decimals, the sequence essentially reverses itself with division. 21/13, 13/8, etc.

Anonymous said...

Just from class I understood the principle of the Fibonacci expiriment
That to get the next number in the sequence you add the 2 below it (1+0=1, 1+1=2, 1+2=3, 2+3=5, etc.) Also, I understand the concept of dividing a number in the sequence by the one immediately below to produce the decimal numbers (2/1=2, 3/2=1.5, 5/3=1.66666667, 8/5=1.6, etc.)

As for the red rectangles I didn't see the connection till I changed the wait time from zero to 2. Then I realized that the size of the red rectangle corresponds to the decimal number sequence. They are all slightly different and the reason that the one on the top is equal to its partnered blue rectangle is because it represents the 2/1=2. All the blue rectangles seem to represent 2.

I read what other people are saying about the colored rectangles approaching a pictorial representation of the golden ratio and that does seam to make a lot of sense.

Anonymous said...

I understand that the experiment represents a sequence in which 1+1=2, then 2+1=3, 2+3=5 and progresses infinitely one way toward the golden ratio? and into infinity in the other, but I'm not sure how the visuals are supposed to represent the sequence, even after reading some of these comments.

Anonymous said...

I ran the Fibonacci Experiment on SeeLogo. I adjusted the wait_time from 0 to 1, then selected redraw. What this is doing is building a Fibonacci Sequence (other than the first element of zero). Starting with the third number (2), it is then dividing the new number in the sequence with the previous number in the sequence. As the divides continue, it looks like the answer is moving toward the Golden Ratio. First it is on the high side, then the low side, then on the high side again but closer, then on the low side again, but closer yet. It looks like if we did enough of these, we would close in on the Golden Ratio.

Unknown said...

I am still trying to dowload the seelogo but I feel I basically understand the Fibonacci experiment.I feel the video gave me a better understand on how to use math in practical terms.My favorite part was the trick with the pool table, I had heard about that trick before but had not fully grasped the concept. I have always had trouble with math and am interested in learning more and different ways to look at math.

Ryan P said...

The Fibonacci Experiment is a sequence of numbers (1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21, etc.,) that is comprised by adding each number with the one that it precedes. From there you divide each number with the one that proceeds it and you result in a sequence of decimal numbers (1.5.1.6666667, 1.6, 1.625, etc).

I am not sure what the blue rectangles represent. It seems to me that they are getting smaller each time while the red rectangles are getting larger. At the same time the full rectangle that the red and blue sections comprise are also different each time. I am confused as to what these rectangles s pecifically represent even though I believe they are associated with the changing sums and dividends of the sequence.

In the end, I understand how the Fibonacci Experiment works, but I am confused as to what the point of it really is.

Unknown said...

just add the previous number to the next number in the sequence. aka 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 and so on. so. 1+1=2. 1+2=3. so on. its pretty str8 forward.

Neth said...

The seelogo experiment helped me understand the fibonacci experiment better. You derive the sequence by adding the preceeding number to each new number- 1+2 = 2, 1+2 = 3, 3+2= 5 etc. You derive the decimals, you divide the result from the preceeding number = 3/2 = 1.5, 5/3 = 1.6666 etc. The rectable correspond to the changing numbers. The blue stays constant, perhaps representing the constancy of the equation. The red changes according to the decimal point.

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