Republic of the Philippines

Surigao del Sur State University

Bislig Campus
Maharlika, Bislig City
MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD
Module Number 1

WHAT IS MATHEMATICS?
 Mathematics is the science that deals with the logic of shape, quantity and
arrangement. Elaine J. Home
 Mathematics is the science of quantity. Aristotle
 Mathematics is the language with which God wrote the Universe.
Galileo
 All mathematics is symbolic logic. Bertrand Russell
 The laws of nature are but the mathematical thoughts of God. Euclid
 Mathematics is the queen of all sciences. Gauss
 It is a useful way to think about nature and our world.
 Mathematics is not about answers, it’s about the processes.
 For more than two thousand years, mathematics has been a part of the human
search for understanding. Mathematical discoveries have come both from the
attempt to describe the natural world and from the desire to arrive at a form of
inescapable truth from careful reasoning. These remain fruitful and important
motivations for mathematical thinking, but in the last century, mathematics has
been successfully applied to many other aspects of the human world: voting trends
in politics, the dating of ancient artifacts, the analysis of automobile traffic patterns,
and long-term strategies for the sustainable harvest of deciduous forests, to mention
a few. Today, mathematics as a mode of thought and expression is more valuable
than ever before. Learning to think in mathematical terms is an essential part of
becoming a liberally educated person. Kenyon College Math
Department Web Page
THE NATURE OF MATHEMATICS
Mathematics reveals hidden patterns that help us understand the world around us. Now
much more than arithmetic and geometry, mathematics today is a diverse discipline that
deals with data, measurements and observations from science; with inference, deduction
and proof; and with mathematical models of natural phenomena, of human behavior and
of social systems.
As a practical matter, mathematics is a science of pattern and order. Its domain is not
molecules or cells, but numbers, chance, form, algorithms and change. As a science of
abstract objects, mathematics relies on logic rather than on observation as its standard of
truth, yet employs observation, simulation and even experimentation as means of
discovering the truth.
The special role of mathematics in education is a consequence of its universal applicability.
The results of mathematics – theorems and theories – are both significant and useful; the
best results are also elegant and deep. Through its theorems, mathematics offers science
both a foundation of truth and a standard of certainty.
In addition to theorems and theories, mathematics offers distinctive modes of thought
which are versatile and powerful, including modeling, abstraction, optimization, logical
analysis, inference from data, and use of symbols. Experience with mathematical modes of

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thoughts builds mathematical power – a capacity of mind of increasing value in this
technological age that enables one to read critically, to identify fallacies, to detect bias, to
assess risk and to suggest alternatives. Mathematics empowers us to understand better the
information-laden world in which we live.
During the first half of the twentieth century, mathematical growth was stimulated
primarily by the power of abstraction and deduction, climaxing more than two centuries of
effort to extract full benefit from the mathematical principles of physical science
formulated by Isaac Newton. Now, as the century closes, the historic alliances of
mathematics with science are expanding rapidly; the highly developed legacy of classical
mathematical theory is being put to broad and often stunning use in a vast mathematical
landscape.
At the end of the nineteenth century, the axiomatization of mathematics on a foundation of
logic and sets made possible grand theory of algebra, analysis and topology whose synthesis
dominated mathematics research and teaching for the first two-thirds of the twentieth
century. These traditional areas have now been supplemented by major developments in
other mathematical science – in number theory, logic, statistics, operations research,
probability, computation, geometry and combinatorics.
In each of these subdisciplines, applications parallel theory. Even the most esoteric and
abstract part of mathematics – number theory and logic, for example – are now used
routinely in applications (for example, in computer science and cryptography). Fifty years
ago, the leading British mathematician G.H. Hardy could boast that number theory was
the most pure and least useful part of mathematics. Today, Hardy’s mathematics is studied
as an essential prerequisite to many applications, including control of automated systems,
data transmission from remote satellites, protection of financial records and efficient
algorithm for computation.
In 1960, striking applications of mathematics have emerged across the entire landscape of
natural, behavioral and social sciences. All advances in design, control and efficiency of
modern airliners depend on sophisticated mathematical models that simulate performance
before prototypes are built. From medical technology (CAT scanners) to economic
planning (input/output models of economic behavior), from genetics (decoding of DNA) to
geology (locating oil reserves), mathematics has made an indelible imprint on every part of
modern science, even as science itself has stimulated the growth of many branches of
mathematics.
Applications of one part of mathematics to another – of geometry to analysis, of probability
to number theory – provide renewed evidence of the fundamental unity of mathematics.
Despite frequent connections among problems in science and mathematics, the constant
discovery of new alliances retains a surprising degree of unpredictability and serendipity.
Whether planned or unplanned, the cross-fertilization between science and mathematics in
problems, theories and concepts has rarely been greater that it is now.
MATHEMATICS AND NATURE
Those who don’t know mathematics, it is tough to get through a real feeling as to the
prettiness. Then it is difficult to feel the inherent beauty of nature. So if you want to know
about nature and want to appreciate it, it is essential to understand the language that
nature speaks.
When learning more about nature, it becomes evident that an accurate statement about
nature is essentially mathematical. Everything else is a guess. So mathematics is an exact
science. This is because nature is mathematical; any science that aims to explain nature is
totally dependent on mathematics.

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Nature is distinctively mathematical, and nature speaks to us in mathematics. We just have
to listen. Also, it is said that “mathematics is science without limit” and that “mathematics
is the language we write science”.
The natural world often displays models, patterns and phenomena we see in mathematics.
Try to stop and look around. Notice all the amazing shapes and patterns aroud? Mathematics
form the building blocks of the world and these amazing shapes and patterns are just some
of the ways to see the beauty of nature.
Patterns can sometimes distinguish something to other things. By just simply recalling
patterns, it is easy to identify animals, places, money and etc. For example, there is a
resemblance between a zebra and a horse, but because of the stripe patterns in the skin of
the zebra, it is easy to identify which is which when placed side by side.
The vast majority of animals on earth exhibit at least one form of symmetry. Symmetry is
found everywhere in nature, from microscopic organisms like volvox that exhibit spherical
symmetry to macroscopic organisms like humans who have bilateral symmetry. Spherical
symmetry (or radial symmetry) is where there is a center point and numerous line of
symmetry could be drawn. Bilateral symmetry, on the other hand, is where an object has
two sides that are mirror images of each other.

Spherical (radial) symmetry

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 Bilateral symmetry
Fibonacci Sequence
Named after the famous mathematician, Leonardo Fibonacci, this number sequence is a
simple yet profound pattern. Based on Fibonacci’s rabbit problem, this sequence begins
with the two numbers 1 and 1, and then each subsequent number is found by adding the
two previous numbers. Therefore, after 1 and 1, the next number is 2 (1+1). The next
number is 3 (1+2) and then 5 (2+3) and so on. What’s remarkable is that the numbers in
the sequence are often seen in nature. A few examples include the number of spirals in a
pine cone, pineapple, or the number of petals in a flower. The numbers form a unique
shape called the fibonacci spiral which are also seen in nature.

Fibonacci Spiral

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 Fibonacci in nature
From the Renaissance onwards, artists have – whether purposely or simply by instinct,
created dramatic and attractive paintings which demonstrate the Fibonacci spiral in their
composition.

Fibonacci in Arts
The discussion of Fibonacci sequence leads to the discovery of the Golden Ratio. The
golden ratio describes predictable patterns on everything from atoms to huge stars in the
sky. Nature uses this ratio to maintain balance. Almost everything has dimensional
properties that adhere to the golden ratio. It is known by many names: the golden ratio, the
golden mean, PHI, and the divine proportion. It is the quotient of the adjacent numbers in
the fibonacci sequence, and it is equal to roughly 1.618. To prove, try measuring from the
shoulder to the finger tips, and then divide this number by the length from the elbow to the
finger tips. Or try measuring from the head to the feet, and divide that by the length from the
belly to the feet. The results would always be somewhere in the area near 1.618. The golden
ratio is seemingly inavoidable.

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Aside from the Fibonacci sequence, there are also other sequences and series that is shown
in everyday life. Just like for example, the pyramid of cups commonly seen in party games,
or the diminishing bounce of a basketball from the first time it falls until it stops.

The series of piling the cup vertically is actually an example of Arithmetic Series. This type
of series has every term differ by a certain amount called the common difference. The top
layer of the party cups arranged as a pyramid has one cup while the next layers have 2, 3,
4, 5 and so on. In that case, the common difference between the terms of this series differs
by one cup.

Most has surely experience a ball bouncing several times after dropping it until it comes to
a stop. The ball bounces at a certain height, then bounce back at a lesser height after
another bounce, until it bounces no more. Example, the first bounce reaches a height of 3
ft., then at the second bounce, it only reaches 1.5 ft. and then 0.75 ft. and so on. As can be
noticed, from the height reached in every bounce, the next bounce is half as high as the
previous. On that note, this series is Geometric Series. In this type of series, every
succeeding term has the same quotient when divided. In the example, the terms are 3, 1.5,
0.75. Dividing 1.5 by 3 is equal to dividing 0.75 by 1.5, which is 0.5. The quotient 0.5 is what
is called the common ratio.

There are still a lot of sequence and series, but is not casually defined by either a common
difference or a common ratio. Most often, there is a pattern that exists that will help define
that sequence or series.

MATHEMATICS AND CIVIL ENGINEERING

A civil engineer uses nearly every form of math at one point in time to do his job. Algebra
is used on a daily basis, and many engineers will have to deal with differential equations,
statistics and calculus occasionally. A good portion of a civil engineer’s time is not spent
doing math though, but when the time comes, civil engineers have to be very comfortable
with all the forms of math, especially those that deal with physics.
Civil engineers have to use math equations that are derived from chemistry on a daily
basis. Chemistry’s equations are used to measure the strength of materials, and engineers
must use these equations to select the right material for a project.
Civil engineers use trigonometry often when surveying a structure. Surveying deals with
land elevations as well as the various angle of structures.
Physics takes on a huge role in a civil engineer’s job. Physics equations are applied to all
angles of an engineering problem to make sure the structure being created is going to
function the way it must. When a bridge is being designed, physics is used to figure out how
large the supporting piers should be, as well as how thick the steel columns of bridge need
to be, and how many of them should be installed. Physics equations typically use algebra,
calculus and trigonometry.
Basic math skills such as accounting and statistics must be utilized during the planning
phase of any project. Figuring out the financial side of a project is an important part of a
civil engineer’s job and he must figure out how much a project is going to cost its investors.

ACTIVITY

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1. Identify and explain the patterns that exist in each sequence. Then determine what
comes next.
a) A, C, E, G, I, __
b) 15, 10, 14, 10, 13, 10, __
c) 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96, __
d) 27, 30, 33, 36, 39, __
e) 41, 39, 37, 35, 33, __
f) B, F, J, P, __
g) 2, 2, 4, 6, 10, __
h) 0, 4, 18, 48, 100, __
i) 2, 4, 7, 11, 16, __
j) 5, 5, 10, 15, 25, 40, __

2. Draw the next two shapes in each picture pattern.

a)

b)

c)

d)

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