Wish To Build The Perfect Snowman? Pull Out Your Ruler!
News flash: Everyone's favorite snowman, the adorable Olaf from Disney's animated film Frozen is not perfect! At least, that's what Dr. James Hind a Professor at England's Nottingham Trent University believes.
After hearing that 87% of Great Britain's residents that wish to create a snowman are not confident about their building skills, the mathematician took it upon himself to create a formula would help even novices build a perfect one.
To calculate the right proportions, Dr. Hind turned to what is known in academia as the 'golden ratio.' Also recognized by the Greek letter phi, the number that is approximately equal to 1.618 is used extensively by artists and architects. That's because it results in the most beautiful and aesthetically pleasing designs.
According to Dr. Hind's calculations the ideal snowman should measure 63-inches tall and comprise of three precisely measured balls of snow stacked atop each other to represent the legs, body and head. Starting from the bottom, they should measure 31-inches, 20-inches, and 12-inches, respectively. To give the snowman perfect features, he suggests using a 1.5-inch long carrot for the nose, twigs for hands and placing the eyes no more than 2-inches apart.
Of course, no snowman is complete without accessories. The mathematician recommends using just three — A hat, scarf and gloves. For those that want to put buttons, he suggests restricting the number to three and placing them down the middle, perfectly equidistant from each another. The professor does caution that even the most accurate measurements will not help if the snow is not fresh and soft.
While Dr. Hind believes that Olaf's proportions are out of whack, he does think the snowman in the 1998 movie Jack Frost is close to being perfect. Also on his approved list, are the illustrations in Raymond Briggs book “The Snowman.”
So what are you waiting for? Grab a ruler and start building the best-looking snowman because if Punxsutawney Phil and Staten Island Chuck are right, the fluffy white powder will soon be history!
Resources: smithsonian.com,dailymail.co.uk
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582 Comments
- Harley QuinnFriday, April 28, 2017 at 9:39 amCOOL
ajgatlinFriday, April 28, 2017 at 9:20 ami live in texas it inpossible
pugpresley11223Tuesday, December 19, 2017 at 6:40 pmit snowed one in Austin it snow for one day and it all melted it was sad
nerdyriley09Thursday, September 7, 2017 at 10:39 amI live in a no-snow state too... tough life.
cariegoldnuggetMonday, July 3, 2017 at 2:26 pmSAAAAAAMMMME LOOL
bookqueen1o13Thursday, March 9, 2017 at 10:14 amDUDE i dont care if hes perfect or na i just like how cute he is LOL ...................................................UNICORN !!!!!!!
lailacat46Friday, April 28, 2017 at 7:22 ami built a dinosaur before- nerdyriley09Tuesday, October 3, 2017 at 6:46 pmWoah, cool!
habugFriday, February 3, 2017 at 9:27 amAwsome
christacWednesday, December 21, 2016 at 11:28 amCool!
beccaboorTuesday, December 13, 2016 at 11:32 amin reality- beccaboorTuesday, December 13, 2016 at 11:32 amno I'm preaty sure everything elsa made in the movie is not real
- beccaboorTuesday, December 13, 2016 at 11:30 amhahaha so do I I watch 247 because of my sister
- habugFriday, February 3, 2017 at 9:28 amI watch it every day cause of my little sis
mo91011Saturday, December 10, 2016 at 12:42 pmLove it- i don't knowFriday, December 9, 2016 at 1:54 pmbut gotta admit, i'm a teen, and i love the references to Olaf gotta admit, pretty good movie.