The Fibancci Sequence

 

Hiya guys sorry I havent written much lately, been busy trying to write a new science book (which isnt looking good lately), but I have something special for you guys in this post.

The fibanci sequence is a series of numbers that go like this;

0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, 4181, 6765, 10946, 17711, 28657, 46368, 75025, 121393, 196418, 317811, ...

It just goes on forever! The next number is found by adding up the two numbers before it. The 2 is found by adding 1+1, the same for 21 which is 8+13 etc.

In fact when you add squares next to each other it makes a spiral as depicted below.


                                               


                                              The squares put together make a spiral

Do you see how the squares fit neatly together?
For example 5 and 8 make 13, 8 and 13 make 21, and so on.

Thats great and all, but what is so special about the fibancci sequence?

What is so special about the Fibonacci sequence is that it exhibits a certain numerical pattern which originally was the answer to an exercise in the first ever school algebra text. But this pattern turned out to have importance far beyond what they all thought at the time.

It is used to model or describe an amazing variety of phenomena, in maths, science, art and nature, you name it! The mathematical ideas the Fibonacci sequence leads to, such as the golden ratio (which is 1.618...), spirals and self- similar curves, have long been appreciated for their charm and beauty, but no one can really explain why they they are so appealing, but many people think that nature has hardwired us to like this particular pattern so as to have healthy offspring and such.

 

 This is a song by a famous band called Tool and they have used the numbers of the fibancci sequence to write the beats to the song and so on. Its a very nice song.

My Favourite Equations

Hiya fellow Science geeks

Prepare yourself for some right nerdy post as I tell you some of the most beautiful equations that you should know in the universe. Who needs party tricks like back flipping or eyeballing vodka when you can impress all the chicks with your extensive knowledge on equations? I mean it worked for Einstein in getting laid why not the rest of us!

My Favourite equation number 1.

Newtons law of motion

 

Besides from being very simplistically beautiful it also describes how the moon goes round the earth.

 

My Favourite equation number 2.

Eulers Formulae

 

Describes two equivalent ways to move in a circle. This is the first one;

 

 

 

Here is the second one;

 

Last but not least my favourite equation number 3.

The Drake equation

 

The drake equation is an estimation of intelligent extraterrestrial life.

 

what the little symbols means;

 

R^* = the average rate of star formation per year in our galaxy

f_p = the fraction of those stars that have planets

n_e = the average number of planets that can potentially support life per star that has planets

f_ℓ = the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop life at some point

f_i = the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop intelligent life

f_c = the fraction of civilisations that develop a technology that releases detectable signs of their existence into space

L = the length of time for which such civilisations release detectable signals into space

 

 

 

Now I've given you all the equations to impress all the chicks at the bar so put on your best trousers and go pull some girls!

 

 

 

 

Although probably not these trousers....

 

 

Math and Music: The Connection

Math is in everything

Yesterday I got an email from a rather angry blog reader saying that 'music has no mathematical qualities as music doesn't follow any rules like math does' in regards to my previous post on classical music. The guy/girl has a point in that music doesn't follow any strict 'rules', but everything has a connection to math its just that we don't see it. And math and music have a rather definite connection through to the rhythm's and tones and in the design of the instruments. And this is for both acoustic and electronic instruments.




How to convert Music to Math

Converting sheet music to math means reducing the notes, pitches and chords in the music to their numerical value on the diatonic scale. Now if you don't play an instrument or know how to read sheet music this may be hard for you to understand, but if you learn how to and practise converting sheet music into math then you'll eventually get it.




1. Find out what Octave the music is in.

2. Write out the names of the notes on a piece of paper such as on piano, G-B-A-C.

3. Put the number of the Octave next to the number so for instance; G3-B3-A3-C3
(these notes are in the third Octave so I put the number three next to them).
4. Write a number below each of the letter and number combo to indicate how long  that note will be held out. Like this;

Or..... You could just put into ratio's like this dude did with the number 1.618 (the Golden Ratio)

Einsteins field equation explained

I just recieved an email from a blog reader asking me to explain this equation;

This equation is Einsteins field equation's and put simply it is explaining that the structure of geometry is deterimed by the distribution of energy (which is a really weird idea). And it also tells's us that gravity can serve as it's own energy source (as gravity is a type of energy form in itself).

This equation once you get your head around it is really simple, what first got me when I was trying to understand this equation was that gravity was it's own energy source, but don't let that fuck you up just as long as you approach Einsteins equations with an open mind you can wrap your head around them.

(My awesome art again)

So now you know both the meaning and the what the left hand and right hand side in the equation. Now if your a guy you can go and impress your girlfriend with your new knowledge of Einsteins field equation's because I hear chicks really dig that :)