Olivia Ray 3/25/14 Math 2 The Great Pyramid built by Pharaoh Khufu, is one of the most well known

pyramids because its on of the Seven Wonders of the World and its the biggest pyramid in the world. The Great Pyramid is located near the River Nile and Cairo, the capitol of Egypt. The Great Pyramid stands next to two other pyramids, built by Pharaoh Khufus sons and the Great Sphinx, which is well known. Khufus pyramid relates to geometry because it contains isosceles triangles as faces and acute and obtuse angles. The Great Pyramid is called one or the greatest architectural wonders of the medieval times because 2 million limestone blocks were used to create this pyramid. These blocks were carried at least 500 miles from the capitol of Egypt, Cairo. Most people claim that slaves built The Great Pyramid, but this is incorrect. Historians believe that more than a thousand citizens crafted the building for 30 years before the great Pharaoh Khufu died. It is estimated that at least every 2 minutes a worker would have to place a block to complete the pyramid. Historians arent certain how the workers were able to carry each block to Giza, but they infer that the Egyptians used wooden ramps to transport the heavy stones. The Great Pyramid is an isosceles triangular pyramid with three acute angles. It was designed to be at least 481.4 feet tall, but due to sand storms and other natural effects, the pyramid is now 451.4 feet tall. Each of the three sides of the triangle is 775.75 feet tall, but now they are at least 745.75 feet tall. The base of the triangular pyramid is unknown because a person is unable to complete the Pythagorean theorem, which requires one right angle. People are still debating whether the Egyptians used the Golden Ratio and Pi to complete this pyramids dimensions. Sadly, to figure out for certain if the Egyptians used these skills, historians would need to have the exact coating on the pyramid, but that had broken down a long time ago. Phi, the golden ratio or , is a tricky mathematical matter that is used as one of the sides of a Golden Triangle. A golden triangle has three sides that are: Phi, or 1.618033988749895, the square root of Phi and one. Two of these Golden Triangles placed together create a face of a pyramid with a base width of two. This some-what complex teaching is called the

Olivia Ray 3/25/14 Math 2 Golden Ratio. The Surface area of two golden triangles is height/2 or 2 x /2 or . Since the Great Pyramid is a pyramid, the area of it would be 4 x /4 or . There is evidence that the Egyptians might have used the Pi along with Phi. If a person were to create a circle with the circumference of eight, he or she would find that this is the same as the pyramid with a base width of two. If that same person then folds the circle into an arced right angle, they will find that the radius of the circle will be exactly 8/pi/2 or 1.273. This is a tenth of a percent difference than the height of the pyramid, using Phi. Many people consider this a coincidence, because there is no evidence of Pi or Phi in any historical texts and the Greeks wrote about the Golden Ratio 100 years later. The strongest evidence that says that the Egyptians knew what they were doing is that how could they get the exact numbers that are stated in Pi and the Golden Ratio. So therefore, there are still arguments deciding whether the Egyptians used the Golden Ratio and Pi or not. There are many ways that the Great Pyramid relates to geometry. Using technological and mathematical numbers, the Egyptians were able to create one of the greatest pyramid in the world.

Olivia Ray 3/25/14 Math 2

Works Cited
"Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza." National Geographic: Egypt--Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. Handwerk, Brian. "Giza Pyramids Hold Pharaohs' Ancient Secrets." National Geographic. National Geographic, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. "Khufu (2609 BC - 2584 BC)." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. "Khufu's Great Pyramid." Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. "Phi Basics." The Golden Number. Goldennumber.net, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. "Phi, Pi and the Great Pyramid." Phi, The Golden Number. Goldennumber.net, n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.