click here for the plus home page
© 1997-2009, Millennium Mathematics Project, University of Cambridge.
Permission is granted to print and copy this page on paper for non-commercial use. For other uses, including electronic redistribution, please contact us.
Seven things everyone wants to know about the universe
icon

What would you like to know about your universe?

Careers with maths
icon

Andy Green is gearing up to break the land speed record in his rocket powered car Bloodhound SSC

A favourite from the archive...
Subscribe to our RSS feed:
AddThis Feed Button subscribe to our RSS feed
 
September 2009
Tags

five-fold tiling problem

Feature icon

Squares do it, triangles do it, even hexagons do it — but pentagons don't. They just won't fit together to tile a flat surface. So are there any tilings based on fiveness? Craig Kaplan takes us through the five-fold tiling problem and uncovers some interesting designs in the process.

Tags: tiling : geometry : Euclidean geometry : spherical geometry : hyperbolic geometry : symmetry : five-fold tiling problem