Trivia of Use to Fibonacci … or MacGyver
From Futility Closet
Since the ratio of kilometers to miles is very close to the Golden Ratio, consecutive terms later in the Fibonacci series (once you get to 3) are approximate conversions of those distances.
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, …
3 miles is 5 km, 5 miles is 8 km, etc.
This knowledge, along with some bubble gum and a paper clip, should be sufficient to thwart the bad guys in at least three ways. Get on with it!
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Interesting, but you spelled MacGyver wrong.
Bleh. I apo … apolo … I can’t do it! Even that car chase seemed tacked-on!
Fixed.
A further application of the Fibonnaci miles/kilometers conversion is to note that every number can be expressed as a sum of distinct Fibonnaci numbers. e.g., 100=89+8+3 = 10000101000 (base Fibonacci). To do the conversion from Miles to Kilometers, convert to base Fibonacci, add a 0 (thus “multiplying by phi”), and convert back. km to miles is just the reverse. 100km = 89km+8km+3km = 55mi+5mi+2mi = 62mi. 100mi = 89mi+8mi+3mi = 144km+13km+5km = 162km.