Golden ratio calculator
The golden ratio is 1.618. Put your length in the first box and 1.618 in the second to get the longer part, or 0.618 to get the shorter one. The three directions are set out below.
12 × 12 = 144
Adding 12 to itself 12 times gives the same answer.
The three things people mean by this
- You have the short part and want the long one. Multiply by 1.618.
- You have the long part and want the short one. Multiply by 0.618, which is the same as dividing by 1.618.
- You have a whole length and want to split it. The larger piece is the whole × 0.618, and the smaller piece is whatever is left.
A worked example
Splitting a 1200 pixel layout into two golden columns: 1200 × 0.618 = 741.6, so the wide column is 742 and the narrow one is 458. Add them back together to confirm they still make 1200 before you build anything on top of them.
The mistake
Multiplying the whole thing by 1.618 when you meant to divide it up. That turns 1200 into 1941.6, a piece larger than the object it came from. If your answer is bigger than the number you started with and you were splitting something, you needed 0.618.
Two checks that always hold
The ratio is unusual in that its own arithmetic proves it. Multiply 1.618 by 0.618 and you land on 1. Multiply 1.618 by itself and you get 2.618, exactly one more than you started with. If you want more decimals, the value is 1.6180339887, which is (1 + √5) ÷ 2.
Related tools
For other proportions worked the same way, see the waist to height ratio calculator and the horsepower to weight ratio calculator, or browse the calculators hub.