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Knots (Geometry and the Imagination)


Visit this site: http://geom.math.uiuc.edu/docs/education/institute91/handouts/node7.html

Author:Conway, Doyle, Gilman, Thurston; The Geometry Center
Description: A mathematical knot is a knotted loop (a knot that can be unknotted is called an unknot). Two knots are considered equivalent if it is possible to rearrange one to the form of the other, without cutting the loop and without allowing it to pass through itself. Knots in a length of string can always be undone by pulling the ends through, so any two lengths of string are equivalent in this sense. If you drop a knotted loop of string on a table, it crosses over itself in a certain number of places. There may be ways to rearrange it with fewer crossings - the minimum possible number of crossings is the crossing number of the knot...

Languages: English
Resource Types: Manipulatives, Lesson Plans and Activities
Math Topics: Knot Theory

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