In February 2008, I visited Moravian College in Bethlehem
Pennsylvania to give a lecture and give two workshops at their annual Student Mathematics
Conference. This web page shows one of the workshop
activities I led
during the visit.
In this workshop, we make Orderly Tangles from paper
triangles. The theory is explained here.
The template looks like this. The triangular hole has half the edge length of the outside.
The template looks like this. The triangular hole has half the edge length of the outside.
Start by cutting out the four
equilateral
triangles and their holes.
Start to put them together. Every pair is linked, so two start out like
a chain and the third links each of the first two.
It is much trickier than it looks, so we are pleased when it is completed.
In the lobby, I displayed a series of geometric models and puzzles.
For workshop instructions and more templates, see this paper.
Thank you Kevin Hartshorn for making all the arrangements.
Some head-scratching is required to
get the fourth one in position.
Extra hands are helpful to hold
the parts in position, so it is good to work in pairs.
In the background you can see a
computer
animation I showed explaining the underlying concept.
It is much trickier than it looks, so we are pleased when it is completed.
In the lobby, I displayed a series of geometric models and puzzles.
For workshop instructions and more templates, see this paper.
Thank you Kevin Hartshorn for making all the arrangements.