ShmoopTube
Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.
Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos
The Golden Ratio 2342 Views
Share It!
Description:
Some people are just so...proportional. Might it be due to their proportional similarity to the Golden Ratio? Next time you notice your cute lab partner, try complimenting him or her with a well-placed comparison to the Parthenon, a plant, or a really nicely proportioned rectangle. Works every time, we swear.
Transcript
- 00:07
The Golden Ratio, a la Shmoop. The Golden Rule is nice.
- 00:13
The Golden Gate Bridge is a work of art. And the Golden Arches are always there when
- 00:19
you need them. But the Golden Ratio is the most Golden of
- 00:24
them all. It’s everywhere you look…
- 00:32
… in nature… … in industry…
Full Transcript
- 00:36
… even on your own body. Okay, so what is this golden ratio?
- 00:45
Wait – let me guess… one-half? <<DS OLD ENGLISH WOMAN VOICE –OEW>>
- 00:50
Nah… What about about two-thirds, dear? <<DS –OEW
- 00:54
Voice>> Nope, wrong again. The Golden Ratio is…
- 01:00
drumroll, please… One plus the square root of five- all over
- 01:07
two. Or approximately One point Six One Eight. Yikes-a-bee. That muddled mess is our Golden
- 01:15
Ratio? <<DS OEW Voice>> You betcha. But it wasn’t just some mathematician
- 01:20
who loves making kids break out in hives who came up with it.
- 01:25
The Golden Ratio, often represented by this symbol:
- 01:30
…is Mother Nature’s way of keeping things proportionate.
- 01:36
For example, measure the height, or length, of your face, and divide it by the width of
- 01:45
your face.
- 01:47
Pretty close to the Golden Ratio, wouldn’t you say?
- 01:53
What about the length from your elbow to your wrist divided by the length from your wrist
- 01:59
to the tip of your middle finger? If you’re not yet spooked out, keep trying
- 02:09
this trick with all sorts of things…
- 02:11
…flower height to flower width…
- 02:15
…television length to television width…
- 02:20
…and so on. It’s almost as if there is order to the
- 02:28
universe. What else can you find that closely approximates
- 02:31
the Golden Ratio?
- 02:32
Keep it clean, please.
- 02:34
YouTube blurb:
- 02:34
Even if you may not realize it, there is a particular proportion that runs rampant, popping
- 02:39
up nearly everywhere you look. Unless you’re currently inside a lumberyard with many long,
- 02:39
thin planks of wood, in which case… you can disregard.
Up Next
SAT Math 10.3 Geometry and Measurement. What is the ratio of birds to dogs?
Related Videos
SAT Math 2.1 Statistics and Probability. Which two items have the highest protein to fat ratio?
SAT Math 2.2 Statistics and Probability. What percent of her recommended daily intake of 2000 calories did she consume?
