Course Title : MATHEMATICS OF THE MODERN WORLD

MODULE 2
MATHEMATICS AS AN ART

Introduction

The world we live in was designed with random shapes and formations. Some of these
shapes and formations follow a pattern that an observer can even tell what the outcome will be
if the pattern will continue. Different patterns were displayed as an art by different civilizations
both ancient and modern. In the Philippines, particularly among the different indigenous
groups in Mindanao, these patterns were commonly evident in their clothes and accessories.
Their woven textiles beautifully display patterns expressing their agricultural roots and their
beliefs.

On the other hand, Mathematicians investigated this kind of art through Geometry.
Although many of them studied these patterns, it was Felix Klein (1849-1925) who aroused the
interest of artists and mathematicians to investigate geometric transformations that preserve
interesting properties in classifying different kinds of geometries. Many others subsequently
followed.

In this Lesson, we will be looking into these geometric transformations and symmetries.

LESSON TITLE Patterns and Isometries

Specific Learning During the learning engagements, the student is expected to:
Outcomes: 1. explain the properties of the different types of transformations and
symmetries;
2. demonstrate the processes of geometric transformations;
3. create an art design applying the concepts of geometric
transformation and symmetry.
TEACHING LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Pattern is a repeating arrangement which helps us determine what will come next. If we will
look around, we can notice pattern is everywhere. It exists abundantly both in nature and in art
which is usually integrated in the culture of every civilization. Particular examples nature
occurrences and woven textiles of different indigenous groups in Mindanao, Philippines.

Source: https://www.vigattintourism.com/tourism/articles/The-Majestic-Land-of-Davao-Del-Sur

Figure 1. A pond showing reflection of coconut plantation and a small nipa hut
in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur
 Source: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.243606979407017.1073741831.100449587056091&type=3

Figure 2. Weaving patterns in some of Mindanao’s Indigenous Groups

Transformation
A transformation on a plane is a function from a plane to the plane itself, that is,
2 2
F:R ⟶ R .
This simply tells us that the function F takes a point ( x , y ) to a possible new location ( x ' , y ' ) .
How is it done? There are four types of transformation to make it possible: rotation,
translation, reflection, and dilation. Figure 3 shows the four different types.

Figure 3
Isometries

Isometries (also called Rigid Transformations) are transformations that leave the dimension
and image of the object unchanged. Hence, the object looks the same. Of the four types of
transformation, only the dilation is not an isometry because the resulting object is either shrank
or stretched, thus, changing the dimensions of the object.

Formal Definition

“An isometry on a plane is a mapping that preserves distance (and shape), that is,
d ( f ( x ) , f ( y ) )=d ( x , y ).”

Isometries can also be formed by combining any operations of the three transformations. A
combined translation and reflection is called glide reflection. Another isometry is obtained after
a reflection is followed by a rotation as shown in the figure 4 below.

Here is how to do this transformation with a triangle. First, draw three circles centered at the
rotation point. Each circle passes through the vertices of the triangle. Rotate each of the three
vertices by any desired angle. Then connect the three rotated vertices which form the rotated
triangle.

Figure 4

Symmetry

An object has a symmetry if there is a transformation that maps the object onto itself. It can be
thought that symmetry then is impunity to change. The butterfly and the eagle in figure 5
perfectly fit for symmetry. If you are to draw a vertical line through the center of the figure,
you can figure out that the left is perfectly equal to the right. The leaves and the cathedral in the
figure are also symmetries. Human body absolutely displays symmetry.
 Figure 5

(Taken from Mathematics in the Modern World by Ethel Cecile Baltazar, Carmelita Ragasa
and Justina Evangelista)

The three broad types of symmetries are the rosette patterns, the frieze patterns, and the
wallpaper patterns. The rosette pattern has only reflections and rotations and has no
translations or glide reflections. The frieze pattern has reflections and rotations and contains
translations and glide reflections but only along one line. The third type of symmetry is the
wallpaper pattern which has rotations, reflections, and glide reflections. This symmetry group
also has translations in two linearly independent directions.

From http://math.hws.edu/eck/js/symmetry/symmetry-info.html
Figure 6A and 6B
Consider figure 6A. One can perform seven rotations about its center point and seven
reflections along some lines passing through the center point. Each of these symmetric
transformations generates a new figure that overlaps with the original figure. It takes seven
rotations of an angle ~51.43o to get the figure back to its original position. For the reflections,
imagine a line between each pair of adjacent figures. There are seven lines for this figure which
determine the seven reflections. This group of seven rotations and seven reflections is called
the symmetric group D7. In general, any symmetric group involving reflections and rotations
are called dihedral group.
Consider another symmetry group consisting of 12 rotations. Examine figure 6B. Its center
point is located on the center circle. Unlike the case above, any reflection cannot be done on
this object because it will not generate a figure that overlaps with the original figure. Hence,
the figure below has a symmetry of 12 rotations and which is called R 12. Examples for D7 and
R12 illustrate the larger class of rosette group of symmetry.

From http://math.hws.edu/eck/js/symmetry/symmetry-info.html
Figure 7
Now consider a symmetry without a center point, and translate the figure to the right. Figure 7
has a motif consisting of four pairs of rectangles, each pair of the same size. This motif
completes the figure by moving it to the right and left at a fixed distance. This translation
symmetry belongs to the frieze group of symmetries and is called a frieze pattern. The distance
of translation is minimum. With this restriction there are only seven frieze groups. The other
frieze groups have a combination of translation with rotation and translation with reflection
(Eck, n.d.).

The following are Conway’s seven frieze group patterns (“Frieze Patterns”, 2013).

1. Hop. This pattern only involves translation.

Figure 8
2. Step. The second frieze pattern is a combination of translation and reflection shown by
the following figure. Conway also called it glide reflection symmetry.

Figure 9
3. Sidle. The third consists of translation and vertical reflection symmetries.

Figure 10
4. Spinning hop. The fourth contains translations and rotation (by a half-turn or rotation of
180o angle) symmetries.

Figure 11
5. Spinning Sidle. The fifth contains translation, glide reflection and rotation (by a half-
turn or rotation of 180o angle) symmetries.

Figure 12

6. Jump. The sixth contains translation and horizontal reflection symmetries.

Figure 13
7. Spinning jump. Finally, the seventh frieze pattern contains all symmetries (translation,
 horizontal and vertical reflection, and rotation).

Figure 14
Wallpaper Groups

If the translation symmetry is added in a second, independent direction, one gets wallpaper
groups. It turns out that there are only 17 different wallpaper groups (again, considering only
discrete groups). Below are some examples. These were made using the groups p6m, pgg, and
p4m, respectively from left to right. As always, you have to imagine the patterns extended
infinitely in all directions.

If a wallpaper group has any rotational symmetry, then the smallest rotational symmetry must
be one of 180o, 120o, 90o, or 60o angle. A wallpaper group can also have a reflection
symmetries and glide reflection symmetries. An “m” in the group name indicates a reflection
symmetry, while “g” indicates glide reflection symmetry.

http://math.hws.edu/eck/js/symmetry/symmetry-info.html
Figure 15
ASSESSMENTS Describe all symmetries in each given design.

1. 2.

3. 4.