Trip around the Möbius Strip
I lost a turn driving to the airport today and ended up in a department store called SM. Driving from the airport, I lost a turn again and I ended up in SM once more. Suddenly, I thought that I was in a möbius strip. Or, you could say, I had a möbius trip.
A möbius strip is a surface with only one side and one edge. You can make a mobius strip by getting a strip of paper, giving it a half twist (180 degrees), then joining the ends together.
The möbius strip has many curious properties. In an ordinary cylindrical strip (ends joined together without a twist), if you start from the seam then draw a line around the strip, you end up in the same starting point, in the same surface. In a möbius strip, drawing a line from the seam, then around the strip, will bring you to the "other side" of the strip. The möbius strip is studied in the field of mathematics called topology.
An ant walking along a mobius strip can cover "both sides" of the strip by just walking continuously along "one side" of the strip. Below is an illustration of this from M.C. Escher, a graphic artist known for his mathematically inspired works.
Trivia Portion
Question 1: How would you know if the cool student next to you is studying Math just by looking at his arm?
Answer: He is wearing a baller ID, and his baller ID is a möbius strip.
Question 2: How do you identify a topology professor?
Answer: He wears his belt with a half twist.
A möbius strip is a surface with only one side and one edge. You can make a mobius strip by getting a strip of paper, giving it a half twist (180 degrees), then joining the ends together.
 |
| Möbius Strip by David Benbennick |
The möbius strip has many curious properties. In an ordinary cylindrical strip (ends joined together without a twist), if you start from the seam then draw a line around the strip, you end up in the same starting point, in the same surface. In a möbius strip, drawing a line from the seam, then around the strip, will bring you to the "other side" of the strip. The möbius strip is studied in the field of mathematics called topology.
An ant walking along a mobius strip can cover "both sides" of the strip by just walking continuously along "one side" of the strip. Below is an illustration of this from M.C. Escher, a graphic artist known for his mathematically inspired works.
 |
| Möbius Strip II by M.C. Escher |
Trivia Portion
Question 1: How would you know if the cool student next to you is studying Math just by looking at his arm?
Answer: He is wearing a baller ID, and his baller ID is a möbius strip.
Question 2: How do you identify a topology professor?
Answer: He wears his belt with a half twist.
Comments
Post a Comment