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