![]() Īs our time was limited, I directed the students to cut out a triangle or quadrilateral from card and, after measuring and noting down the interior angles, tessellate their shape on paper. To tessellate is to cover a surface with a pattern of repeated shapes, especially polygons, that fit together closely without gaps or overlapping. We compared their ideas with a formal definition (below) and agreed that they were consistent. Will it work with all the types of triangles?Īfter showing them pictures of tessellations, the students began to construct an understanding of the concept: ![]() They had no prior knowledge of tessellations and, unsurprisingly, that was their first question about the prompt:ĭoes it mean that triangles fit into quadrilaterals? Do they "perfectly overlap"?ĭo triangles and quadrilaterals do it in the same way? The prompt gave them an opportunity to see angle facts in a new context. ![]() Andrew Blair reports on how the inquiry progressed: Tilings & Patterns – Branko Grunbaum & G.C.A year 7 mixed attainment class at Haverstock school (Camden, UK) inquired into the prompt during a 50-minute lesson. Ruler & Compass – Andrew Sutton (published Wooden Books) This content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-ShareAlike License CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Further Reading As there is only one vertex condition in the semi-regular tilings, the duals are each comprised of a single shape. The dual tilings (also referred to as Catalan or Laves tilings) are generated by connecting the centres of each tile in the semi-regular tilings and passing through the midpoint of each edge. Alternatively, another vertically reflected tile can be constructed to create a tall rectangular unit which can be repeated by translation. The final tiling, 3.3.3.4.4, must be reflected to repeat seamlessly. An easier option is to construct this tiling on a wider isometric grid.Ĥ.8.8 and 3.3.4.3.4 both repeat in a square unit. The dotted line shows a hexagonal unit which can be repeated by translation. The 3.3.3.3.6 tiling repeats with an unusual offset. The first four tilings, 3.6.3.6, 3.4.6.4, 3.12.12 and 4.6.12, all repeat in a rectangle of 1:√3 proportions and can therefore be constructed from the base layout in the first diagram. In all but one case the result is a simple, repeatable rectangular or square unit. The methods presented here aim to work from the outside in with as succinct construction as possible, rather than expanding a grid out from the centre. These are called n-uniform tilings, where n denotes the number of different vertex conditions in the tiling. These are the focus of this post.Īn infinite number of tilings can be generated using regular polygons if the vertex rule is relaxed. These include the three regular tilings, 6.6.6 (hexagonal or honeycomb), 4.4.4.4 (square) and 3.3.3.3.3.3 (triangular or isometric) and eight further semi-regular tilings. Uniform tilings are those which have a single vertex condition, meaning the same grouping of polygons are clustered around each vertex. Hence 3.4.6.4 means that each vertex has a cluster of triangle, square, hexagon, square positioned around each vertex, in that order. The notation used to define each tiling describes the sequence of polygons around each vertex. These can all be constructed using simple ruler and compass methods as demonstrated here. Semi-regular tilings, also known as Archimedean tilings, are infinite tilings of the two-dimensional plane comprised of more than one regular polygon, where each vertex in the tiling is surrounded by the same set of polygons, in the same order. If you need help constructing the hexagon and square you can refer to my earlier blog post about constructing regular grids with ruler and compass. These tilings underpin many geometric patterns and are essential to understand if not always necessary to construct. You can find sequential diagrams below, however if you enjoy print media or would like to support my work and help me fund further book projects, you can purchase a printed booklet version (with free UK delivery). There are, of course, many other ways to approach these tilings depending on your requirements. ![]() Through discussion with fellow geometers, it seems there is a need for a simple resource showing the steps for drawing all eight semi-regular tilings of the plane using a ruler and compass, so I have compiled the methods presented here. Constructing semi-regular tilings of the plane with ruler & compass ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |