Two quantities a and b are said to be in the golden ratio φ if
"\\frac{a+b}{a}=\\frac{a}{b}=\\varphi"
One method for finding the value of φ is to start with the left fraction. Through simplifying the fraction and substituting in"\\frac{b}{a}=\\frac{1}{\\varphi},"
"{\\frac {a+b}{a}}={\\frac {a}{a}}+{\\frac {b}{a}}=1+{\\frac {b}{a}}=1+{\\frac {1}{\\varphi }}" b/a = 1/φ,
"1+{\\frac {1}{\\varphi }}=\\varphi"
"\\varphi +1=\\varphi ^{2}"
"{\\varphi }^{2}-\\varphi -1=0."
Using the quadratic formula, two solutions are obtained:
"x={\\frac {-b\\pm {\\sqrt {b^{2}-4ac}}}{2a}}"
"{\\frac {1+{\\sqrt {5}}}{2}}=1.618\\,033\\,988\\,749\\,894\\,848\\,204\\,586\\,834\\,365\\dots"
and
"{\\frac {1-{\\sqrt {5}}}{2}}=-0.618\\,033\\,988\\,7\\dots"
Because φ is the ratio between positive quantities, φ is necessarily positive:
"\\varphi ={\\frac {1+{\\sqrt {5}}}{2}}=1.618\\,033\\,988\\,749\\,894\\,848\\,204\\,586\\,834\\,365\\dots"
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