The Perfect Face


Do these faces seem attractive to you? Many people seem to think so. But why? Is there something specific in each of their faces that attracts us to them, or is our attraction governed by one of Nature's rules? Does this have anything to do with the Golden Ratio? I think you already know the answer to that question. Let's try to analyze these faces to see if the Golden Ratio is present or not. If you would like to choose a different famous face, then go to Lycos Multimedia and do a search on your person's full name. Be sure to click on "Pictures" as a search criteria. When you find the image you want, click on it to make it larger and then save it to your computer (we learned this in Activity 3). Click on any of the images above to get a larger version. You may print this picture if you like.

Here's how we are going to conduct our search for the Golden Ratio: we will measure certain aspects of each person's face. Then we will compare their ratios. Let's begin. We will need the following measurements, to the nearest tenth of a centimeter:

a = Top-of-head to chin = cm
b = Top-of-head to pupil = cm
c = Pupil to nosetip = cm
d = Pupil to lip = cm
e = Width of nose = cm
f = Outside distance between eyes = cm
g = Width of head = cm
h = Hairline to pupil = cm
i = Nosetip to chin = cm
j = Lips to chin = cm
k = Length of lips = cm
l = Nosetip to lips = cm


Now, find the following ratios:

a/g = cm
b/d = cm
i/j = cm
i/c = cm
e/l = cm
f/h = cm
k/e = cm

Did any of these ratios come close to being Golden? If not, then maybe this face isn't so perfect after all. Of the face above, who has the most "Golden" one? Try finding a face that you find attractive and see how Golden it is.

Alternate activity: For those of you who are artistically inclined, see if you can draw the perfect face. Keep the ratios above in mind when designing your face. After you have completed your sketch, prove that it is Golden by computing the ratios above. Turn in your sketch and analysis to your instructor.




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©2001 by Mr. David L. Narain

Last Updated January 3, 2003