The Falmouth and Exeter Students’ Union MathSoc and the maths department from the University of Exeter’s Penryn campus are attempting to break the world record to create the largest Fibonacci spiral during a day of events planned to celebrate the famous sequence tomorrow.

A Fibonacci spiral is a series of connected quarter-circles drawn inside an array of squares with Fibonacci numbers for dimensions. The squares fit perfectly together because of the nature of the sequence, where the next number is equal to the sum of the two before it.

President of MathsSoc Charlotte Norridge said: “MathSoc are really excited to be running Fibonacci Day celebrations in collaboration with other societies and clubs as well as the maths department.

"You get a very unique experience from studying maths or any other subject at Penryn as the class sizes are smaller so we have been able to build amazing relationships with other students and get huge amounts of support from the maths department."

The spiral looks like a nautilus sea shell or a hurricane and the sequence frequently arises in nature, for example in DNA, the branching of trees, patterns in flowers or the arrangements of leaves on a stem.

Fibonacci is the popular nickname of Leonardo of Pisa, a 12th century Italian mathematician and Fibonacci Day takes place November 23 - or 11/23 when written in mm/dd format – the first four numbers of the sequence. The campus celebrations are taking place a day earlier on 22nd November, to enable as many students and staff to be involved and tackle the world record attempt together.

The world record attempt takes place from 3-4pm on the lawns by Tremough House. The current record stands at 30m2, which is beatable if as many people as possible join in – all are welcome.

A drone is being sent up to take photographs of the attempt, which will involve as many people as possible holding hands in the shape of the Fibonacci Spiral. Fusion Cheerleading will also be creating their own Fibonacci pyramid.

From 4-5pm there’ll be a treasure hunt in collaboration with other societies, BeeSoc and EcoSoc starting in the Exchange lecture theatre where both societies will be giving a 5 minute talk ahead of the hunt. The day will finish with a pub quiz in the Stannary Bar from 7-10pm.

Charlotte added: “We will hopefully break the current world record of 30m2 for the largest Fibonacci Spiral. Come and join us on the day, stand on our Fibonacci Spiral holding hands as we send a drone up to record the event.

“This is one of three big events we are holding this year, the other two being Women in STEM day and Pi Day which will be held in the new year.”

Stuart Townley, professor of applied mathematics at the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus added: "maths is everywhere and perhaps best captured by the ubiquitous Fibonacci sequence that we see around us in nature. Celebrating Fibonacci Day provides a fantastic opportunity for our maths students to engage with other disciplines and the wider public, so as to raise awareness of maths and its widespread relevance and appeal."

Follow instagram @sumathsoc or @thesufalexe for updates on the day.