MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD

Asian Development Foundation College

Tacloban City

LEARNING MODULE NO. 2

IN

GE 114

MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD

Name: ________________________________

Subject Code: __________________________

Course: _______________________________

Block No: _____________________________

Instructor: ____________________________

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 MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD

The Mathematics in Our World

Lesson
1.2
Specific Objective

1. To develop one’s understanding about patterns;

2. To identify different patterns in nature;
3. To recognize different symmetries in nature; and
4. To explain the presence of Fibonacci numbers in nature

The mathematics in our world is rooted in patterns. Patterns are all around us.
Finding and understanding patterns give us great power to play like god. With
patterns, we can discover and understand new things; we learn to predict and
ultimately control the future for our own advantage.

A pattern is a structure, form, or design that is regular, consistent, or recurring.

Patterns can be found in nature, in human-made designs, or in abstract ideas. They
occur in different contexts and various forms. Because patterns are repetitive and
duplicative, their underlying structure regularities can be modelled
mathematically. In general sense, any regularity that can be explained
mathematically is a pattern. Thus, an investigation of nature’s patterns is an
investigation of nature’s numbers. This means that the relationships can be
observed, that logical connections can be established, that generalizations can be
inferred, that future events can be predicted, and that control can possibly be
possible.

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Discussions

Different Kinds of Pattern

As we look at the world around us, we can sense the orchestrating great regularity
and diversity of living and non-living things. The symphonies vary from tiny to
gigantic, from simple to complex, and from dull to the bright. The kaleidoscope of
patterns is everywhere and they make the nature look only fascinating but also
intriguing. Paradoxically, it seemed that everything in the world follows a pattern
of their own and tamed by the same time pattern of their own.

Patterns of Visuals. Visual patterns are often unpredictable, never quite

repeatable, and often contain fractals. These patterns are can be seen from the
seeds and pinecones to the branches and leaves. They are also visible in self-similar
replication of trees, ferns, and plants throughout nature.

Patterns of Flow. The flow of liquids provides an inexhaustible supply of nature’s

patterns. Patterns of flow are usually found in the water, stone, and even in the
growth of trees. There is also a flow pattern present in meandering rivers with the
repetition of undulating lines.

Patterns of Movement. In the human walk, the feet strike the ground in a regular
rhythm: the left-right-left-right-left rhythm. When a horse, a four-legged creature
walks, there is more of a complex but equally rhythmic pattern. This prevalence of
pattern in locomotion extends to the scuttling of insects, the flights of birds, the
pulsations of jellyfish, and also the wave-like movements of fish, worms, and
snakes.

Patterns of Rhythm. Rhythm is conceivably the most basic pattern in nature. Our
hearts and lungs follow a regular repeated pattern of sounds or movement whose
timing is adapted to our body’s needs. Many of nature’s rhythms are most likely

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similar to a heartbeat, while others are like breathing. The beating of the heart, as
well as breathing, have a default pattern.

Patterns of Texture. A texture is a quality of a certain object that we sense through

touch. It exists as a literal surface that we can feel, see, and imagine. Textures are
of many kinds. It can be bristly, and rough, but it can also be smooth, cold, and
hard.

Geometric Patterns. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern which consists of a

series of shapes that are typically repeated. These are regularities in the natural
world that are repeated in a predictable manner. Geometrical patterns are usually
visible on cacti and succulents.

Patterns Found in Nature

Common patterns appear in nature, just like what we see when we look closely at
plants, flowers, animals, and even at our bodies. These common patterns are all
incorporated in many natural things.

Waves and Dunes

A wave is any form of disturbance that carries energy as it moves. Waves are of
different kinds: mechanical waves which propagate through a medium ---- air or
water, making it oscillate as waves pass by. Wind waves, on the other hand, are
surface waves that create the chaotic patterns of the sea. Similarly, water waves

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are created by energy passing through water causing it to move in a circular motion.
Likewise, ripple patterns and dunes are formed by sand wind as they pass over the
sand.

Spots and Stripes

We can see patterns like spots on the skin of a giraffe. On the other hand, stripes
are visible on the skin of a zebra. Patterns like spots and stripes that are commonly
present in different organisms are results of a reaction-diffusion system (Turing,
1952). The size and the shape of the pattern depend on how fast the
chemicals diffuse and how strongly they interact.

Spirals

Jean Beaufort has released this “Spiral

Galaxy” image under Public Domain license

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The spiral patterns exist on the scale of the cosmos to the minuscule forms of
microscopic animals on earth. The Milky Way that contains our Solar System is a
barred spiral galaxy with a band of bright stars emerging from the center running
across the middle of it. Spiral patterns are also common and noticeable among
plants and some animals. Spirals appear in many plants such as pinecones,
pineapples, and sunflowers. On the other hand, animals like ram and kudu also
have spiral patterns on their horns.

Symmetries

In mathematics, if a figure can be folded or divided into two with two halves which
are the same, such figure is called a symmetric figure. Symmetry has a vital role in
pattern formation. It is used to classify and organize information about patterns by
classifying the motion or deformation of both pattern structures and processes.
There are many kinds of symmetry, and the most important ones are reflections,
rotations, and translations. These kinds of symmetries are less formally called flips,
turns, and slides.

Reflection symmetry, sometimes called line symmetry or mirror symmetry,

captures symmetries when the left half of a pattern is the same as the right half.

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Rotations, also known as rotational symmetry, captures symmetries when it still

looks the same after some rotation (of less than one full turn). The degree of
rotational symmetry of an object is recognized by the number of distinct
orientations in which it looks the same for each rotation.

Translations. This is another type of symmetry. Translational symmetry exists in

patterns that we see in nature and in man-made objects. Translations acquire

symmetries when units are repeated and turn out having identical figures, like the
bees’ honeycomb with hexagonal tiles.

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Symmetries in Nature

From the structure of subatomic particles to that of the entire universe, symmetry
is present. The presence of symmetries in nature does not only attract our visual
sense, but also plays an integral and prominent role in the way our life works.

Human Body Animal Movement

The human body is one of the pieces The symmetry of motion is present in
animal movements. When animals move,
of evidence that there is symmetry in we can see that their movements also
exhibit symmetry.
nature. Our body exhibits bilateral

symmetry. It can be divided into two

identical halves.

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Sunflower
One of the most interesting things
about a sunflower is that it contains
both radial and bilateral symmetry.
What appears to be "petals" in the
outer ring are actually small flowers
also known as ray florets. These
small flowers are bilaterally
symmetrical. On the other hand, the
dark inner ring of the sunflower is a
cluster of radially symmetrical disk
florets.

Snowflakes
Snowflakes have six-fold radial
symmetry. The ice crystals that make-
up the snowflakes are symmetrical or
patterned. The intricate shape of a
single arm of a snowflake is very much
similar to the other arms. This only
proves that symmetry is present in a
snowflake.

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Honeycombs/Beehive
Honeycombs or beehives are examples of wallpaper symmetry. This kind of
symmetry is created when a pattern is repeated until it covers a plane. Beehives
are made of walls with each side having the same size enclosed with small
hexagonal cells. Inside these cells, honey and pollen are stored and bees are
raised.

Starfish
Starfish have a radial fivefold symmetry. Each arm portion of the starfish is identical
to each of the other regions.

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Fibonacci in Nature

By learning about nature, it becomes gradually evident that the nature is essentially
mathematical, and this is one of the reasons why explaining nature is dependent
on mathematics. Mathematics has the power to unveil the inherent beauty of the
natural world.

In describing the amazing variety of phenomena in nature we stumble to discover

the existence of Fibonacci numbers. It turns out that the Fibonacci numbers appear
from the smallest up to the biggest objects in the natural world. This presence of
Fibonacci numbers in nature, which was once existed realm mathematician’s
curiously, is considered as one of the biggest mysteries why some patterns in
nature is Fibonacci. But one thing is definitely made certain, and that what seemed
solely mathematical is also natural.

For instance, many flowers display figures adorned with numbers of petals that are
in the Fibonacci sequence. The classic five-petal flowers are said to be the most
common among them. These include the buttercup, columbine, and hibiscus. Aside
from those flowers with five petals, eight-petal flowers like clematis and
delphinium also have the Fibonacci numbers, while ragwort and marigold have
thirteen. These numbers are all Fibonacci numbers.

Apart from the counts of flower petals, the Fibonacci also occurs in nautilus shells
with a logarithmic spiral growth. Multiple Fibonacci spirals are also present in
pineapples and red cabbages. The patterns are all consistent and natural.

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References:

[1] Aufmann, Lockwood, Nation,& Clegg. Mathematical Excursions, 3rd ed., Brooks/Cole
Cengage Learning, USA.

[2] S.S. Epp. Discrete Mathematics with Applications, 4th ed., Cengage Learning, 2010.

[3] Chartrand Chartrand, G. & P. Zhang. Introduction to Graph Theory, International Editon,
McGraw Hill, 2005.

[4] https://mathigon.org/course/graph-theory/introduction

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