The Golden Ratio

There are a few concepts in maths that seem to transcend the subject and manage to find their way into Architecture, Music, literature, and can even be considered art.

The Golden Ratio exists if you split a line into two parts, then take the longer part (a) and divide it by the smaller part (b). You will find that it is equal to the sum of (a) + (b) divided by (A). Which is 1.618.

A step by step is provided at the end of this post 🙂

You can also take a square, multiply one side by 1.618, and you get a rectangle of harmonious proportions: you’re very own Golden Ratio. And this can carry on infinitely.

You can find the Golden Ratio in:

• the Pyramids in Giza,
• the Parthenon in Athens
• Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel,
• Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa
• Even the Pepsi logo follows it.

In nature, a snail’s shell follows the golden ratio, as do many plants. What’s even more interesting, our faces follow the Golden Ratio. Our brains seem to prefer things which support the golden ratio, to such a degree that even the smallest change can make an image appear wrong somehow.

There’s a lot of psychological research looking at if this golden ratio works for faces. Although there is little support for the golden ratio studies have shown that, on average, people rate a synthetic (and therefore entirely symmetrical) face as being more attractive than natural faces. These same studies also show that when there is a marked increase in the distance between the eyes and mouth of a face, it is often considered “grotesque”. Obviously they were talking about me there!

In 2009, further research found Individual Attractiveness is optimized when the face’s vertical distance between the eyes and the mouth is approximately 36% of its length, and the horizontal distance between the eyes is approximately 46% of the face’s width.

However, we have to remember that, like many other studies in psychology, these results are just based on a small sample group whose results have been extrapolated to apply to the general population.

But don’t feel bad if you don’t seem to fit this Golden Ratio, Angelina Jolie doesn’t fit either.

How to find the Golden Ratio

1. Find the longer segment and label it A
2. Find the shorter segment and label it B
3. Take the sum A and B and divide by A
4. Take A divide by B
5. If the proportion is in the golden ratio, both will equal approximately 1.618

Further reading

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2814183/

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1068/p240937

Are there any topics that you would like me to cover in this post? Let me know in the comments below.