Sunday, January 27, 2008

Amazing mathematics - Möbius Strip

This time I give you an example of topology. Intuitively, two spaces are topologically equivalent if one can be deformed into the other without cutting or gluing. A traditional joke is that a topologist can't tell the coffee mug out of which she is drinking from the doughnut she is eating, since a sufficiently pliable doughnut could be reshaped to the form of a coffee cup by creating a dimple and progressively enlarging it, while shrinking the hole into a handle.
The Möbius strip or Möbius band is a surface with only one side and only one boundary component. It has the mathematical property of being non-orientable.
Here are some examples of the amazing properties this surface holds. You can easily try the experiments yourself.

2 comments:

Struggling Parents said...

I enjoy your postings, your very humorous...;)

Anonymous said...

Hello Leena
The mobius strip is amazing really isn't it :)
Previously you joined the Linky Love Train, which was quite successful.
How about joining the Big Bang (if you haven't already)

Have a great day and hope you will join in :)

Colin