Drexel dragonThe Math ForumDonate to the Math Forum

The Math Forum Internet Mathematics Library

Coloring Penrose Tiles

_____________________________________
Library Home || Full Table of Contents || Suggest a Link || Library Help
_____________________________________

Visit this site: http://www.maa.org/mathland/mathtrek_5_17_99.html
Author:Ivars Peterson (MathTrek)
Description: One set of Penrose tilings consists of a pair of diamond-shaped figures--one fat and one skinny. Attempts to color such Penrose diamond tilings led some people to conjecture that three colors suffice. Now, mathematicians Tom Sibley of Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minn., and Stan Wagon of Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., have proved that to be the case. They go on to generalize the result to any map (or tiling) made up of parallelograms, as long as two adjacent countries (or tiles) meet in a single point or along a complete edge of the constituent pieces. They describe such a map or pattern as "tidy"...
Levels: Middle School (6-8), High School (9-12), College
Languages: English
Resource Types: Articles
Math Topics: Graph Theory, Symmetry/Tessellations

[Privacy Policy] [Terms of Use]

_____________________________________
Home || The Math Library || Quick Reference || Search || Help
_____________________________________

© 1994-2009 Drexel University. All rights reserved.
http://mathforum.org/
 The Math Forum is a research and educational enterprise of the Goodwin College of Professional Studies.The Math Forum is a research and educational enterprise of the Goodwin College of Professional Studies.