The Mbius Strip

The Mbius strip or Mbius band (alternatively written Mobius or Moebius in English) is a surface with only one side and only one boundary component. The Mbius strip has the mathematical property of being non-orientable. It was discovered independently by the German mathematicians August Ferdinand Mbius and Johann Benedict Listing in 1858. A model can easily be created by taking a paper strip and giving it a half-twist, and then joining the ends of the strip together to form a loop. In Euclidean space there are in fact two types of Mbius strips depending on the direction of the half-twist: clockwise and counterclockwise. The Mbius strip is therefore chiral, which is to say that it has "handedness" (right-handed or left-handed).

Properties
The Mbius strip has several curious properties. A line drawn starting from the seam down the middle will meet back at the seam but at the "other side". If continued the line will meet the starting point and will be double the length of the original strip. This single continuous curve demonstrates that the Mbius strip has only one boundary. Cutting a Mbius strip along the center line yields one long strip with two full twists in it, rather than two separate strips; the result is not a Mbius strip. This happens because the original strip only has one edge which is twice as long as the original strip. Cutting creates a second independent edge, half of which was on each side of the scissors. Cutting this new, longer, strip down the middle creates two strips wound around each other, each with two full twists. If the strip is cut along about a third of the way in from the edge, it creates two strips: One is a thinner Mbius strip it is the center third of the original strip, comprising 1/3 of the width and the same length as the original strip. The other is a longer but thin strip with two full twists in it this is a neighborhood of the edge of the original strip, and it comprises 1/3 of the width and twice the length of the original strip. Other analogous strips can be obtained by similarly joining strips with two or more half-twists in them instead of one. For example, a strip with three half-twists, when divided lengthwise, becomes a strip tied in a trefoil knot. (If this knot is unravelled, the strip is made with eight half-twists in addition to an overhand knot.) The equation for the numbers of twists after cutting a Mobius strip is 2N+2=M, where N is the number of twists before and M, the number after. Cutting a Mbius strip, giving it extra twists, and reconnecting the ends produces figures called paradromic rings. A strip with an odd-number of half-twists, such as the Mbius strip, will have only one surface and one boundary. A strip twisted an even number of times will have two surfaces and two boundaries.

If a strip with an odd number of half-twists is cut in half along its length, it will result in a longer strip, with the same number of loops as there are half-twists in the original. Alternatively, if a strip with an even number of half-twists is cut in half along its length, it will result in two conjoined strips, each with the same number of twists as the original.

Occurrence and use in nature and technology

There have been several technical applications for the Mbius strip. Giant Mbius strips have been used as conveyor belts that last longer because the entire surface area of the belt gets the same amount of wear, and as continuous-loop recording tapes (to double the playing time). Mbius strips are common in the manufacture of fabric computer printer and typewriter ribbons, as they allow the ribbon to be twice as wide as the print head while using both half-edges evenly. A device called a Mbius resistor is an electronic circuit element which has the property of canceling its own inductive reactance. Nikola Tesla patented similar technology in the early 1900s: "Coil for Electro Magnets" was intended for use with his system of global transmission of electricity without wires.

Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mbius_strip

The Mbius Strip There are two sides to everything. Right? A sphere has an inside and an outside. A bug could be trapped inside, or it could crawl around on the outside. A piece of paper sitting on a desk has a top and a bottom. Pages in a book are usually numbered two per sheet of paper, with a front and a back. Can you think of any thing that only has one side? Follow the directions below, recording observations, predictions, and outcomes as prompted. To make a Mobius strip, cut out a strip of paper. Then take one side and give it a half-twist. Next tape the ends together. Journal entry #1: Compare and contrast this to a loop with no twist in it. Draw a line along the center of the Mobius strip (parallel to the edges) until you get back to where you started. Journal entry #2: What do you notice about drawing this line? Journal entry #3: Given what you know about cutting paper in half, what do you think will happen to the strip if you cut along the line you drew? Now cut the strip along that line. Write what you observe. Does it agree with your predictions? Note specific differences. Make another Mobius strip. Journal entry #4: What do you think would happen if instead of cutting halfway between edges, you cut 1/3 from the edge all the way around? Cut your strip accordingly and record observations. Does it agree with your predictions this time? Cut another strip and twist one end twice (instead of just once) before attaching the ends. Journal entry #5: What do you think will be the same and different about this double-twisted strip? Draw a line down the center of this strip and stop when you get back to the beginning. How many sides does this strip have? What do you expect to happen when you cut along that line? Your collection of journal entries from this activity should be about one page in length. Turn the journal in when you are finished.

Adapted from Kenneth Fuller, 2001

M.C. Escher Mobius Strip II