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Mathematische Bastelien
Flexagon Re'Flex'ions
Flexagons and Number Series?
"...a mathematician is someone who sees opportunities for doing mathematics that the rest of us miss."
- Ian Stewart (The Magical Maze) -
(I'm a mathematician!)
This Page Revised 16
Dec 2004
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Opportunities now seem infinite for mathematical
maneuvering with all of the flexagon flavors. The smorgasbord ranges from pure simple amusing recreational romping to complex 'serious' theoretical thinking. This page will provide a brief summary of the different mathematical investigations.
1 - 6, 1 - 9, 1 - 12, 1 - 36, 1 - 54, Fibonacci, Pascal’s Triangle, and the Sierpinski Gasket are the present different number sequences and sources for sequences being used in my explorations. Also, I'm trying applying different mathematical operations like squaring and cubing in the search for patterns.
Considering that anything goes for a 'try'hexaflexagon, sequences were graphed using SPSS and SyStat producing some interesting results. For example, when curve fitting was used, cubic formed a repeating sine wave on the 1 - 12 sequence version.
Cutting the flexagon down the middle, a third, and a fourth of the way will be another of my quests. Many complex possibilities exist. What patterns and phenomena will occur when the different types of resulting bands are subjected to all types of things? Could other flexagons be made from the results? How about what happens when different number sequences are assigned in different ways?
Other future explorations will include more topology plus
Combinatorics such as the Fano Plane. It would be interesting to find an assignment of numbers that would produce another 'Magic' Flexagon!
By Vernon Gutenkunst (B.S. in Chemistry, Army Musician, B.A. in Interdepartmental Sociology)
Flexagon Re'flex'ions Home Page URL: http://hometown.aol.com/verndrei/flex00.html