Golden Ratio by Compass Only

In a 2002 article, K. Hofstetter, offered an elegant way of obtaining the Golden Ratio.

It will be convenient to denote S(R) the circle with center S through point R. For the construction, let A and B be two points. Circles A(B) and B(A) intersect in C and D and cross the line AB in points E and F. Circles B(E) and A(F) intersect in X and Y, as in the diagram. Because of the symmetry, points X, D, C, Y are collinear. The fact is CX / CD = φ.

Assume for simplicity that AB = 2. Then CD = 23, CX = 15 + 3, so that

CX / CD= (15 + 3) / 23
 = (5 + 1) / 2
 = φ.

Also, CD / DX = φ. Finally, observe that points E and F lie on C(D). It follows that the whole construction can be accomplished with compass only.

References

  1. K. Hofstetter, A Simple Construction of the Golden Section, Forum Geometricorum, v 2 (2002), pp. 65-66

Fibonacci Numbers

  1. Ceva's Theorem: A Matter of Appreciation
  2. When the Counting Gets Tough, the Tough Count on Mathematics
  3. I. Sharygin's Problem of Criminal Ministers
  4. Single Pile Games
  5. Take-Away Games
  6. Number 8 Is Interesting
  7. Curry's Paradox
  8. A Problem in Checker-Jumping
  9. Fibonacci's Quickies
  10. Fibonacci Numbers in Equilateral Triangle
  11. Binet's Formula by Inducion
  12. Binet's Formula via Generating Functions
  13. Generating Functions from Recurrences
  14. Cassini's Identity
  15. Fibonacci Idendtities with Matrices
  16. GCD of Fibonacci Numbers
  17. Binet's Formula with Cosines
  18. Lame's Theorem - First Application of Fibonacci Numbers

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