MAT105: Mathematics in the

Modern World

Course
Outline
 Grading System
Components Rating
Participation (Recitations/Presentations) 10%
Performance Tasks 30%
Major Examinations (Prelim; Midterm) 30%
Final Exam/Assessment (Terminal Output) 30%
Total 100%
 Grading System
Rating Grade
99% - 100% 1.00
96% - 98% 1.25
93% - 95% 1.50
90% - 92% 1.75
87% - 89% 2.00
84% - 86% 2.25
81% - 83% 2.50
78% - 80% 2.75
75% - 77% 3.00
Below 75% 5.00
Total 100%
 Chapter 1
Mathematics in Nature
 Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)

1. Identify patterns in nature and regularities in the world.

2. Articulate the importance of mathematics in one’s life.
3. Argue about the nature of mathematics, what is it,
how it is expressed, represented and used.
4. Express appreciation for mathematics as a human
endeavor.

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(i) What is Mathematics?
(ii) Where is Mathematics?
(iii) What role does Mathematics play in your world?
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Puffer Fish Courtship Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1PID91sEW8

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Waves are generally generated by wind passing over the surface of the sea, but
can also form via atmospheric pressure and gravitational attraction.
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Stewart (1995) explains in his book Nature’s
Numbers that:

“Mathematics is a systematic way of digging out

the rules and structures that lie behind some
observed pattern or regularity, and using these
rules and structures to explain what is going on”.

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 Patterns and Numbers in Nature
and the World

 Patterns in nature are visible regularities of form found in the natural world and
can also be seen in the universe.

 Nature patterns which are not just to be admired, they are vital clues to the rules
that govern natural processes.

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Examples of Patterns

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Examples of Patterns

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 The heart of Mathematics is more than just numbers
which many suppose to be meaningful and interesting.

Consciously or unconsciously, daily activities engage

some forms of Mathematics.
Mathematics is everywhere. It may not seem obvious
but Mathematics is also in nature. There is
Mathematics in the trees, leaves, mountains,
volcanoes, birds, fruits, among others.
 Birds
Have you ever wondered why most birds fly in V-formation as they
travel from one place to another?
 Birds
 Birds fly in V-formation for maximum efficiency. This formation helps birds
fly with less effort, enabling them to have enough energy to travel long
flights without the need to stop for a rest.

 In an article entitled “Doing math on the fly, birds form the flying V for
efficiency”, Habib explained that, “When a bird flies, it creates spinning
loops of air behind it called vortices. Part of the vortex system pushes air
upward—known as upwash—while the opposite side of the vortex pushes
air downward—known as downwash. To fly with less effort, a bird should
time its flapping to press its wings through the upwash created by the bird
in front of it. It also wants to avoid the downwash.”
The downwash made by the bird in front results to an upwash which makes the bird
behind it spends less energy to fly since it is being pushed or lifted by the upwash of
the bird in front of it.
 Spots and Stripes
Would you believe that the spots and stripes of animals such as tigers, leopards, and
hyenas can be explained by a system of mathematical equations?
 Alan Turing, an English mathematician, proposed that there are two
chemicals interacting inside the embryo of an animal. He named these
chemicals morphogens (A and B) and proposed that they reacted with each
other and diffused through the embryo according to a system of
“reaction-diffusion equations,”.
 Morphegen A activated a stripe colour and the other morphogen B,
inhibited the stripe colour. When these chemicals diffused through the
embryo, the stripe pattern would be formed, while if there were two sets
of these reactions occurring then spotty patterns would formed instead.
Large spots would be formed if the embryo was very small when the
reactions were occurring.
 Patterns and Regularities

 Mathematics is all around us. As we discover more about our environment, we can
mathematically describe nature. The beauty of a flower, the majestic tree, even the
rock formation exhibits nature’s sense of symmetry.

 Nothing in nature happens without a reason, all of these patterns have an

important reason to exist and they also happen to be beautiful to watch.

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Types of Patterns

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 1. Symmetry
• A sense of harmonious and beautiful
proportion of balance or an object is invariant
to any various transformations (reflection,
rotation or scaling)

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 • Bilateral Symmetry – a
•
symmetry in which the left
A sense of harmonious and
andproportion
beautiful the rightof sides of the
organism
balance can
or an object is be divided
invariant
intoto any various
approximately mirror
transformations (reflection,
image
rotation of each other along
or scaling)
the midline.

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1. Symmetry

Radial
Symmetry –
a symmetry
around a
fixed point
known as the
center and it
can be
classified as
either cyclic
or dihedral

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 2. Spiral
• A logarithmic spiral or growth spiral is a self-similar spiral curve which often appears in nature.

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 3. Fractals
• The term fractals comes from the Latin word, “fractus”, meaning “broken” or “fractured” and is used by
Benoit Mandelbrot to extend the concept of theoretical fractional dimensions to geometric patterns in
nature.
• Fractals are infinitely complex patterns that are self-similar across different scales.

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▷ The Sierpinski Triangle
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 4. Tessellations
• Tessellation means covering a surface with a pattern of shapes without any
gaps or space.

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 A honeycomb or beehive is consists of hexagonal cells built by bees to
contain their larvae and to store honey and pollen. But why do the bees
chose hexagons among other shapes? Why not squares? Why not circles?
 Mathematics gives us two
reasons as to why a honeycomb
is consists of hexagons. These
are: the concept of tessellation
and area.
 There are only 3 regular shapes (shapes having equal sides) that tessellate,
namely: square, triangle and hexagons. Having these three as
considerations, the next step is to find which among these shapes will give
us the biggest area or the amount of space enclosed by the given figure.
 Consider the following figures. All of them have the same perimeter of 12
units.

 Note that even if they all have the same perimeters, they differ in terms of
area. Among other shapes, it is hence, the hexagon which tessellates and
gives the maximum area, the reason why it is the best shape fit for the
honeycomb.
Things in Nature with Hexagonal structures

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Manmade Things Anchored from the Hexagons

Nuts and Bolts Pencils

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 What is Mathematics?
 Mathematics is the study of pattern and structure. Mathematics is
fundamental to the physical and biological sciences, engineering and
information technology, to economics and increasingly to the social
sciences.
 Mathematics is a useful way to think about nature and our world.
 Mathematics is a tool to quantify, organize and control our world, predict
phenomena and make life easier for us.

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 Where is Mathematics?

 Many patterns and occurrences exist in nature, in our world, in our life.
 Mathematics helps make sense of these patterns and occurrences.

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 What role does Mathematics play in
our world?

 Mathematics helps organize patterns and regularities in our world.

 Mathematics helps predict the behavior of nature and phenomena in the world.
 Mathematics helps control nature and occurrences in the world for our own ends.
 Mathematics has numerous applications in the world making it indispensable.

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 References

1. Mathematical Nature Walk by John Adam

2. Nature’s Numbers by Ian Stewart

3. Mathematics in Nature: Modelling Patterns by John Adam

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