Tessellations

Miranda Hodge
December 11, 2003
MAT 3610
What are Tessellations?

 Tessellations are
patterns that cover
a plane with
repeating figures so
there is no
overlapping or
empty spaces.

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History of Tessellations

 The word tessellation comes from

Latin word tessella
 Meaning “a square tablet”
 The square tablets were used to make
ancient Roman mosaics
 Did not call them tessellations

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History cont.

 Sumerians used mosaics as early as

4000 B.C.
 Moorish artists 700-1500
 Used geometric designs for artwork
 Decorated buildings

 Harmonice Mundi (1619)

 Regular & Irregular

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History cont.

 E.S. Fedorov (1891)

 Found methods for repeating tilings
over a plane
 “Unofficial” beginning of the
mathematical study of tessellations
 Many discoveries have be made
about tessellations since Fedorov’s
work

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History cont.

 Alhambra Palace, Granada

 M.C. Escher
 Known as “The Father of
Tessellations”
 Created tessellations on woodworks
 1975 British Origami Society
• Popularity in the art world

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Examples of Escher’s Work

7 Sun and Moon Horsemen

Tessellation Basics
 Formed by translating, rotating, and
reflecting polygons
 The sum of the measures of the angles
of the polygons surrounding at a
vertex is 360°
 Regular Tessellation
 Semi-regular Tessellation
 Hyperbolic Tessellation

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Regular Tessellation

 Uses only one type of regular polygon

 Rules:
 1. the tessellation must tile an infinite
floor with not gaps or overlapping
 2. the tiles must all be the same
regular polygon
 3. each vertex must look the same

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Regular Tessellation cont.
 The interior angle must be a factor of 360°
180(2)nn−
 Where n is the number of sides

 What polygons will form a regular

tessellation?
 Triangles – Yes

 Squares – Yes

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Regular Tessellation cont.
 Pentagons – No

 Hexagons – Yes

 Heptagons – No

 Octagons – No

 Any polygon with more than six sides

doesn’t tessellate

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Semi-regular Tessellation
 Uniform
tessellations that
contain two or
more regular
polygons

 Same rules apply

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Semi-regular cont.
 3, 3, 3, 4, 4

 8 Semi-regular
tessellations

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Hyperbolic Tessellation

 Infinitely many regular tessellations

 {n,k}
 n=number of sides
 k=number of at each vertex

 1/n + 1/k = ½ Euclidean

 1/n + 1/k < 1/2 Hyperbolic

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Hyperbolic cont.
 Poincaré disk
 Regular Tessellation
 {5,4}
 Quasiregular
Tessellation
 built from two kinds
of regular polygons so
that two of each meet
at each vertex,
alternately
 Quasi-{5,4)

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Classroom Activities
 http://mathforum.org/pubs/boxer/tess.html
 Boxer math tessellation tool
 Teacher lesson plan
 http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/lessons/t
essgeom.html
 Teacher lessons plan
 Student worksheets
 Sketchpad Activities

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NCTM Standards
 Apply transpositions and symmetry to analyze
mathematical situations
 Analyze characteristics and properties of two-
and three-dimensional geometric shapes and
develop mathematical arguments about
geometric relationships
 Apply appropriate techniques, tools, and
formulas to determine measurement

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Tessellations in the World

 Uses for tessellations:

 Tiling
 Mosaics
 Quilts

 Tessellations are often used to solve

problems in interior design and
quilting
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Summary of Tessellations
 Patterns that cover a plane with
repeating figures so there is no
overlapping or empty spaces.
 Found throughout history
 MC Escher
 Triangles, Squares, and Hexagons
tessellate
 Any polygons with more than six sides do not
tessellate

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Summary cont.

 8 Semi regular tessellations

 Fun for geometry students!

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Works Cited
Alejandre, Suzanne. “What is a Tessellation?” Math Forum 1994-2003.
18 Nov. 2003.<http://mathforum.org/sum95/suzanne/
whattess.html>.
Bennett, D. “Tessellations Using Only Translations.” Teaching Mathematics
with The Geometer’s Sketchpad. Emeryville, CA: Key Curriculum Press,
2002. 18-19.
Boyd, Cindy J., et al. Geometry. New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 1998.
523-527.
“Escher Art Collection.” DaveMc’s Image Collection. 1 Dec. 2003.
< http://www.cs.unc.edu/~davemc/Pic/Escher/>.
“Geometry in Tessellations.” The Shodor Education Foundation, Inc. 1997-
2003. 18 Nov. 2003. < http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/lessons/
tessgeom.html>.
Joyce, David E. “Hyperbolic Tessellations.” Clark University. Dec. 1998.
18 Nov.2003. <http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/poincare/poincare.
html>.

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Works Cited cont.
Seymour, Dale and Jill Britton. Introduction to Tessellations. Palo Alto:
Dale Seymour Publications, 1989.
“Tessellations by Karen.” Coolmath.com. 18 Nov. 2003.
<http://www.coolmath.com/tesspag1.html>.

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