Cynthia Lanius

Fractals
Pictured: A Famous Fractal - The Mandelbrot Set

A Fractals Unit for Elementary and Middle School Students

That Adults are Free to Enjoy
Table of Contents Introduction Why study fractals? What's so hot about fractals, anyway? Makin fractals Sier ins!i Trian"le #sin" $a%a Math &uestions Sier ins!i Meets Pascal $urassic Par! Fractal #sin" $A'A (t "rows com le) *eal first iteration +ncodin" the fractal World's ,ar"est -och Snowfla!e #sin" $a%a (nfinite erimeter Finite area Anti-Snowfla!e #sin" $a%a Fractal !ro"erties Self-similarity Fractional dimension Formation by iteration For Teachers Teachers' .otes Teacher-to-Teacher Send mail Fractals on the Web

What are Fractals?

They're e%erywhere, those bri"ht, weird, beautiful sha es called fractals/ 0ut what are they, really? Fractals are "eometric fi"ures, 1ust li!e rectan"les, circles and s&uares, but fractals ha%e s ecial ro erties that those fi"ures do not ha%e/ There's lots of information on the Web about fractals, but most of it is either 1ust retty ictures or %ery hi"h-le%el mathematics/ So this fractals site is for !ids, to hel them understand what the weird ictures are all about - that it's math - and that it's fun2
Teachers: +%ery lesson has a rint %ersion for classroom use/ Fractals make #Cool Science# $e%s Winners and $e% Cham"ions& Sier ins!i 3443 5ham ions2 5on"ratulations on an awesome Sier ins!i Trian"le 5on"ratulations2 Students in Mr/ ,ynch's class in Sand oint,(daho created this 63th iteration $urassic Par! Fractal/ (t too! 378 co ies of their ori"inal to ma!e/ 9reat 1ob/:ere's last year's 66th-iteration

htt :;;math/rice/edu;<lanius;frac;

The Math Forum 'ther Math Lessons by 5ynthia ,anius A%ards This Site has recei%ed

%ersion/ +lementary School 5ham ions2 Third "rade students in Ms/ *enner's class at Alief (S='s 5hambers +lementary in :ouston, T> made this this ?th iteration $urassic Par! Fractal/ Wow2 And loo! at what reschoolers do2

#*, htt :;;math/rice/edu;<lanius;frac; 5o yri"ht 6??8-344@ by 5ynthia ,anius *eset to 6 on 6;6?;4A Cynthia Lanius

Why Study Fractals?

Table of Contents Introduction Why study fractals? What's so hot about fractals, anyway? Makin fractals Sier ins!i Trian"le #sin" $a%a Math &uestions Sier ins!i Meets Pascal $urassic Par! Fractal #sin" $A'A (t "rows com le) *eal first iteration +ncodin" the fractal World's ,ar"est -och Snowfla!e #sin" $a%a (nfinite erimeter Finite area Anti-Snowfla!e #sin" $a%a Fractal !ro"erties Self-similarity Fractional dimension Formation by iteration For Teachers Teachers' .otes Teacher-to-Teacher

What's so hot about fractals, anyway?

They(re $e%& Most math you study in school is old !nowled"e/ For e)am le, the "eometry you study about circles, s&uares, and trian"les was or"aniBed around C44 0/5/ by a man named +uclid/ Much of fractal "eometry, howe%er, is much newer/ *esearch on fractals is bein" carried out ri"ht now by mathematicians/ :a%e you e%er thou"ht about a career as a mathematician? )ou can understand them* Much research in mathematics is currently bein" done all o%er the world/ Most of it is e)tremely com licated/ Althou"h we need to study and learn more before we can understand most modern mathematics, there's a lot about fractals that we can understand/ 'bjects in nature often look fractal in structure* Most ob1ects in nature aren't formed of s&uares or trian"les, but of more com licated "eometric fi"ures/ Many natural ob1ects - ferns, coastlines, etc/ - are sha ed li!e fractals/ :ere you can read about fractals in nature/ There are some really cool conce"ts connected to fractals*

htt :;;math/rice/edu;<lanius;frac;

Comments My fractals mail Send fractals mail Fractals on the Web The Math Forum 'ther Math Lessons by 5ynthia ,anius A%ards This Site has recei%ed

(ma"ine that the icture at the to of this a"e is a icture of the coastline of Africa/Dou measure it with mile-lon" rulers and "et a certain measurement/ What if on the ne)t day you measure it with foot-lon" rulers? Which measurement would "i%e you a lar"er measurement/ Since the coastline is 1a""ed, you could "et into the noo!s and crannies better with the foot-lon" ruler, so it would yield a "reater measurement/ .ow what if you measured it with an inch-lon" ruler? Dou could really "et into the teeniest and tiniest of crannies there/ So the measurement would be e%en bi""er, that is if the coastline is 1a""ed smaller than an inch/ What if it were 1a""ed at e%ery oint on the coastline? Dou could measure it with shorter and shorter rulers, and the measurement would "et lon"er and lon"er/ Dou could e%en measure it with infinitesimally short rulers, and the coastline would be infinitely lon"/ That's fractal/ !eo"le use them to sol+e real,%orld "roblems* +n"ineers ha%e be"un desi"nin" and constructin" fractals in order to sol%e ractical en"ineerin" roblems/ For e)am le ta!e a loo! at Amal"amated *esearch (c/'s Fractal 5ontrol of Fluid =ynamics/ -nternet .esearch /uestions0 Dou can find the answers from the sites lin!ed abo%e/ 6/ Who or"aniBed "eometry into a series of boo!s? What are those boo!s called? 3/ What is the name of a mathematician who does research today? Where does he;she wor!? What is the area of mathematics in which he;she wor!s? C/ Find another icture of a fractal that loo!s li!e an ob1ect in nature/ (f ossible, email me your answers/ laniusEmath/rice/edu Dou may obtain a rint %ersion of this a"e/

* Co"yri ht 1223,4556 Cynthia Lanius

#*, htt :;;math/rice/edu;<lanius;fractals;W:D

Cynthia Lanius Fractal !ro"erties htt :;;math/rice/edu;<lanius;frac;

Self,Similarity
Table of Contents Introduction Why study fractals? What's so hot about fractals, anyway? Makin fractals Sier ins!i Trian"le #sin" $a%a Math &uestions Sier ins!i Meets Pascal $urassic Par! Fractal #sin" $A'A (t "rows com le) *eal first iteration +ncodin" the fractal World's ,ar"est -och Snowfla!e #sin" $a%a (nfinite erimeter Finite area Anti-Snowfla!e #sin" $a%a Fractal !ro"erties Self-similarity Fractional dimension Formation by iteration For Teachers Teachers' .otes Teacher-to-Teacher Comments My fractals mail Send fractals mail Fractals on the Web The Math Forum 'ther Math Lessons by 5ynthia ,anius

5ats, canaries, or !an"aroos are similar if they are ali!e in some way/ (n "eometry thou"h, similar means somethin" %ery s ecific/ 9eometric fi"ures are similar if they ha%e the same sha e/ ( don't mean two rectan"les or two trian"les, but really the same sha e/ For e)am le: The two s&uares are similar.

The two rectan"les are not similar.

0ut the two rectan"les below are similar.

,oo! carefully at the last blue rectan"le and you will see that it is 3 times as wide as the red rectan"le and 3 times as lon"/ We say that the sides are in ro ortion and the ratio For scale factorG is 3:6/ Since the corres ondin" sides are in ro ortion Fand the corres ondin" an"les are also of e&ual measureG, the fi"ures are the same sha e and are similar/ 5onsider similarity in another way/ (n order for one fi"ure to be similar to another, you must be able to ma"nify the len"th of the small fi"ure by the scale factor, and it will become e)actly the same siBe as the lar"er fi"ure/

htt :;;math/rice/edu;<lanius;frac;

A%ards This Site has recei%ed

.ow how are fi"ures self-similar?

Many fi"ures that are not fractals are self-similar/ .otice the fi"ure to the ri"ht/ .otice that the outline of the fi"ure is a tra eBoid/ .ow loo! inside at all the tra eBoids that ma!e u the lar"er tra eBoid/ This is an e)am le of self similarity. Dou can also thin! of self-similarity as co ies/ +ach of the small tra eBoids is a co y of the lar"er/ 0elow are fi%e other e)am les of self-similarity/

Self,Similarity of Fractals To the ri"ht is the Sier ins!i Trian"le that we ma!e in this unit/ .otice that the outline of the fi"ure is an e&uilateral trian"le/ .ow loo! inside at all the e&uilateral trian"les/ *emember that there are infinitely many smaller and smaller trian"les inside/ :ow many different siBed trian"les can you find? All of these are similar to each other and to the ori"inal trian"le - self similarity See all the co ies of the ori"inal trian"le inside? :ow many co ies do you see where the ratio of the outer trian"le's sides to the inner ones is 3:6? A:6? H:6? ( thin! we ha%e a attern here/ 5an you find it? 5hec! out this %ery cool Sier ins!i animated self-similarity illustration/ /uestions on Self,Similarity /uestion 10 (f the red ima"e is the ori"inal fi"ure, how many similar co ies of it are contained in the blue fi"ure? /uestion 40 Are s&uares self-similar? F5an you form bi""er s&uares out of smaller ones?G Are he)a"ons? F5an you form lar"er he)a"ons out of smaller ones?G =raw e)am les to 1ustify your answer/ /uestion 70Are circles similar? Are they self-similar?F5an you form lar"er circles out of smaller ones? =raw e)am les to 1ustify your answer/ /uestion 80 +) eriment with desi"nin" another self-similar fi"ure/

*obert =e%aney has more information on self-similarity/ htt :;;math/rice/edu;<lanius;frac;

Dou may obtain a rint %ersion of this a"e/ laniusEmath/rice/edu

Co"yri ht 1226,4556 Cynthia Lanius

#*, htt :;;math/rice/edu;<lanius;fractals;self/html

Cynthia Lanius Fractal !ro"erties

Fractal 9imension
Table of Contents Introduction Why study fractals? What's so hot about fractals, anyway? Makin fractals Sier ins!i Trian"le #sin" $a%a Math &uestions Sier ins!i Meets Pascal $urassic Par! Fractal #sin" $A'A (t "rows com le) *eal first iteration +ncodin" the fractal World's ,ar"est -och Snowfla!e #sin" $a%a (nfinite erimeter Finite area Anti-

A "oint has no dimensions - no len"th, no width, no hei"ht/

That dot is ob%iously way too bi" to really re resent a oint/ 0ut we'll li%e with it, if we all 1ust a"ree what a oint really is/

A line has one dimension - len"th/ (t has no width and no hei"ht, but infinite len"th/

A"ain, this model of a line is really not %ery "ood, but until we learn how to draw a line with 4 width and infinite len"th, it'll ha%e to do/

A "lane has two dimensions - len"th and width, no de th/

htt :;;math/rice/edu;<lanius;frac;

Snowfla!e #sin" $a%a Fractal !ro"erties Self-similarity Fractional dimension Formation by iteration For Teachers Teachers' .otes Teacher-toTeacher Comments My fractals mail Send fractals mail Fractals on the Web The Math Forum 'ther Math Lessons by 5ynthia ,anius A%ards This Site has recei%ed

(t's an absolutely flat tableto e)tendin" out both ways to infinity/

S"ace: a hu"e em ty bo), has three dimensions, len"th, width, and de th, e)tendin" to infinity in all three directions/

Ib%iously this isn't a "ood re resentation of C=/ 0esides its siBe, it's 1ust a he)a"on drawn to fool you into thin!in" it's a bo)/

Fractals can ha%e fractional (or fractal) dimension. A fractal mi"ht ha%e dimension of 6/8 or 3/A/ :ow could that be? ,et's in%esti"ate below/

$ust as the ima"es abo%e weren't %ery "ood ictures of a oint, line, lane, or s ace, the drawin" meant to be the Sier ins!i Trian"le has limitations/ *emember as we continue that fractals are really formed by infinitely many ste s/ So there are infinitely many smaller and smaller trian"les inside the fi"ure, and infinitely many holes Fthe blac! trian"lesG/ ,et's loo! further at what we mean by dimension/ Ta!e a self-similar fi"ure li!e a line se"ment, and double its len"th/ =oublin" the len"th "i%es two co ies of the ori"inal se"ment/

htt :;;math/rice/edu;<lanius;frac;

Ta!e another self-similar fi"ure, this time a s&uare 6 unit by 6 unit/ .ow multi ly the len"th and width by 3/ :ow many co ies of the ori"inal siBe s&uare do you "et? =oublin" the sides "i%es four co ies/

Ta!e a 6 by 6 by 6 cube and double its len"th, width, and hei"ht/ :ow many co ies of the ori"inal siBe cube do you "et? =oublin" the side "i%es ei"ht co ies/

,et's or"aniBe our information into a table/ Fi ure ,ine se"ment S&uare 9imension 6 3 $o* of Co"ies 3 J 36 A J 33

5ube C H J 3C =o you see a attern? (t a ears that the dimension is the e) onent - and it is2 So when we double the sides and "et a similar fi"ure, we write the number of co ies as a ower of 3 and the e) onent will be the dimension/ ,et's add that as a row to the table/ Fi ure ,ine Se"ment S&uare 5ube =oublin" Similarity 9imension 6 3 C d $o* of Co"ies 3 J 36 A J 33 H J 3C n J 3d

We can use this to fi"ure out the dimension of the Sier ins!i Trian"le because when you double the len"th of the sides, you "et another Sier ins!i Trian"le similar to the first/ Start with a Sier ins!i trian"le of 6-inch sides/ =ouble the len"th of the sides/ .ow how many co ies of the ori"inal trian"le do you ha%e? *emember that the blac! trian"les are holes, so we can't count them/ =oublin" the sides "i%es us three co ies, so htt :;;math/rice/edu;<lanius;frac;

7 ; 4d, where d J the dimension/ 0ut wait, 3 J 36, and A J 33, so what number could this be? (t has to be somewhere between 6 and 3, ri"ht? ,et's add this to our table/ Fi ure ,ine Se"ment Sier"inski(s Trian le S&uare 5ube 9imension 6 ? 3 C $o* of Co"ies 3 J 36 7 ; 4? A J 33 H J 3C

=oublin" Similarity d n J 3d So the dimension of Sier ins!i's Trian"le is between 6 and 3/ =o you thin! you could find a better answer? #se a calculator with an e) onent !ey Fthe !ey usually loo!s li!e this K G/ #se 3 as a base and e) eriment with different e) onents between 6 and 3 to see how close you can come/ For e)am le, try 6/6/ Ty e 4<1*1 and you "et 3/6AC7A@/ ('ll bet you can "et closer to C than that/ Try 4<1*4 and you "et 3/3?@A/ That's closer to C, but you can do better/ I!ay, ( "ot you startedL now find the e) onent that "ets you closest to C, and that's its dimension/ +mail me your answer if you want/ laniusErice/edu That's how fractals can ha%e fractional dimension. .ote 6: For those of you that !now about lo"arithms: Des, you could use lo"s to sol%e this, but remember, this is primarily desi"ned for students in elementary and middle school who ha%en't studied them yet/ (f you ha%e studied lo"arithms, then yes, use them to sol%e this e&uation/ .ote 3: (s there anythin" s ecial about us doublin" the len"ths here? 5ould you ha%e tri led them and deri%ed the formula as well? Why don't you in%esti"ate by tryin" it/ .ote C: *obert =e%aney has more information on fractal dimension/ .ote A: Dou may obtain a rint %ersion of this a"e/ 5o yri"ht 6??@-344@ 5ynthia ,anius #*, htt :;;math/rice/edu;<lanius;fractals;dim/html

Cynthia Lanius Fractal !ro"erties

-terati+e Formation
htt :;;math/rice/edu;<lanius;frac;

Table of Contents Introduction Why study fractals? What's so hot about fractals, anyway? Makin fractals Sier ins!i Trian"le #sin" $a%a Math &uestions Sier ins!i Meets Pascal $urassic Par! Fractal #sin" $A'A (t "rows com le) *eal first iteration +ncodin" the fractal World's ,ar"est -och Snowfla!e #sin" $a%a (nfinite erimeter Finite area Anti-Snowfla!e #sin" $a%a Fractal !ro"erties Self-similarity Fractional dimension Formation by iteration For Teachers Teachers' .otes Teacher-to-Teacher Comments My fractals mail Send fractals mail Fractals on the Web The Math Forum 'ther Math Lessons by 5ynthia ,anius A%ards This Site has recei%ed

Fractals are often formed by what is called an iterative rocess/ :ere's what ( mean/ To make a fractal0 Ta!e a familiar "eometric fi"ure Fa trian"le or line se"ment, for e)am leG and o erate on it so that the new fi"ure is more Mcom licatedM in a s ecial way/ Then in the same way, o erate on that resultin" fi"ure, and "et an e%en more com licated fi"ure/ .ow o erate on that resultin" fi"ure in the same way and "et an e%en more com licated fi"ure/ =o it a"ain and a"ain///and a"ain/ (n fact, you ha%e to thin! of doin" it infinitely many times/ Dou can obser%e this iterati%e rocess in all the fractals that we ma!e in this unit: Sier ins!i's Trian"le -och Snowfla!e Anti--och Snowfla!e The $urassic Par! fractal .ot e%ery iterati%e rocess roduces a fractal/ Ta!e a line se"ment and cho off the end/ What is the resultin" fi"ure? $ust another line se"ment - not Mcom licatedM at all, and not a fractal/ Dou could continue the iterati%e rocess o%er and o%er, cho in" off the end of the line se"ment, but it would 1ust become a shorter and shorter line se"ment, not Mcom licatedM, not fractal/ 0elow is a icture of a similar iterati%e o eration that is fractal/ Ta!e a line se"ment Fsee belowG and remo%e the middle third/ What is the resultin" fi"ure? :mmm/ That's a more com licated fi"ure/ (t's a line se"ment with a hole in it/ *e eat the rocess on that fi"ure/ (n other words, remo%e the middle third of both of those sections/ This roduces an e%en more com licated fi"ure/ .ow thin! of doin" this infinitely many times/ (n fact, this is a famous fractal called Cantor 9ust*

htt :;;math/rice/edu;<lanius;frac;

Dou may obtain a rint %ersion of this a"e/

Co"yri ht 1226,4556 Cynthia Lanius

#*, htt :;;math/rice/edu;<lanius;fractals;iter/html

htt :;;math/rice/edu;<lanius;frac;