FIBONNACI SEQUENCE Study the given illustration below

and pay please attention to the

symbols used for you to better
The number sequence is known as understand the concept of a
the Fibonacci sequence. The
Fibonacci is named after the
mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci
who stumbled across it in the 12th
century. (Thomas, 2015).
The first term can be a zero or one.
The three dots after 89 is called an
ellipsis which means the pattern
continues without end. Aside from
possessing some mathematical
properties, it has an extraordinary
aspect that became evident among
plants and nature. But where does
the discovery of the Fibonacci
sequence started? What was the
concept behind this amazing
sequence of numbers? Can you see
pattern as you go along with the
sequence? If you are to list the first
100 numbers in the sequence, is it
possible to do so without a
computing machine at hand? The
idea behind the sequence is just to
add the previous 2 numbers to get
the next number. Though listing the
first 100 terms can be very lengthy, Fibonacci sequence.
but the point is it can be done using
paper and pen.
A curious problem caught the
attention of Fibonacci. It started with Observe that during the first month
a pair of fictional and slightly we have one infertile pair of rabbits.
unbelievable baby rabbits, a baby During the second month, the
boy rabbit and a baby girl rabbit. infertile pair turned into a fertile
(Thomas, 2015). pair, which eventually generates
another infertile pair. Hence, in the
3rd month we have 2 pairs of Fn = Fn-1 + Fn-2,
rabbits, the original pair that
F0 = 0 and F1 = 1
survives in the second month and
the new pair reproduced (the Where:
infertile pair). Now, observes what
Fn = nth term
happened in the 4th month. The
fertile pair generates another F0 = first term
infertile pair. The infertile pair in the
3rd month became fertile during the
4th month. Therefore, we have a
total of 3 pairs of rabbits in month 4.
Following the same trend or concept,
the 5th month will have a total of 5
pairs. After one year, how many pair
of rabbits will we have?
In mathematics, the Fibonacci
numbers are the following sequence
of numbers:
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55,
89, …
F1 = second term
The first two Fibonacci numbers are
0 and 1 by definition; and each
succeeding term or number is the
Now, what if you are made to find
sum of the previous two. Other
the 25th term without actual listing
sources do not start with 0, instead
of numbers?
the sequence will start with two 1s.
What about the 125th term? The
RECURRENCE RELATION 220th term? Quite tedious, but all
these can be made possible through
the use of a formula.
What is meant by Recurrence
relation?

BINET’S FORMULA

The formula below is called as

Binet's formula, named after the
Take a look at the equation below:
mathematician Jacques Philippe
Marie Binet. It is used to find the Try to continue the process using
nth term of the Fibonacci sequence. your calculator. What have you
noticed with the ratio between any
number and the previous one? What
number is being approximated at?
That particular value the ratio
seemed to settle down is
Find time to explore the formula and approximately 1.618034. We call
get ready for our discussion forum in this number the golden mean or the
our portal. See the course guide for golden ratio often denoted by φ
reference. (Phi).

Active and honest contribution to our In addition, a golden ratio

discussion forum is highly (sometimes called the divine
appreciated. See you then. proportion is an irrational number
that possess unusual properties. The
At this point, before we will look at ratio is 1 to 1.618 (or 1.6180339…).
some real-life application problems
of the Fibonacci sequence, let us Recall the sequence,
study one more observation of the 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, …
said sequence that helps us
understand the famous golden Now, where can we find the
mean. Fibonacci sequence in nature? How
will the concept of the Golden ratio
Consider again the Fibonacci series be made visible and relevant in our
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, life’s daily struggle?
… (Notice that we omit zero as the
starting number). “The most common appearances of
a Fibonacci numbers in nature are in
plants, in the numbers of leaves, the
arrangement of leaves around the
stem and in the positioning of
leaves, sections and seeds.”
Get the quotient of two successive (Meisner, 2012).
numbers and try to observe what
Suppose, we will do rectangle
happens to the result. Let us take a
construction, starting with the
look at the first 12 pairs. (Rounded
innermost rectangle having a side of
off to 6 decimal places)
1 unit. (See figure 3b).
Notice the 2 smallest rectangles with
Let's summarize the result: an area of 1 square unit. Now make
another rectangle using one side of
the smallest rectangle and have 2
units as its side. Continue the
process with sides of lengths 5, 8,
13, and 21. The rectangle will look
like the one below.

Let us make some general notations

using sides a, b, c, and d. Have a
good look at the obtained ratio. It is
approximately at 1.618034. Refer to
figure 3b again.
TEDTalks will help us understand the
Fibonacci sequence even more and
how mathematics added life to our
universe and that how math can be
an inspiring tool for people to fully
become aware of its practical and
real use.
The end product of the video is the
figure 3c above. After constructing
the rectangle, a spiral will be created
and its process is explained in
details by the link provided.
Now, any observation of the
figure/spiral drawn? Is it familiar to
you? Where do you usually find a
spiral-like image in nature? In arts
and designs? What about in
architecture?
At the start of this lesson, remember
that a Fibonacci sequence was
explained by the fictional story of
the rabbits which made Fibonacci
got curious about. The application of
the said sequence can be evident in
most unexpected places and that
there is a life far beyond the study of
rabbits. (Kuepper, 2020)