Fractals - do YOU know what they are?
By GDTimothy
@GDTimothy (446)
United States
July 21, 2010 6:39am CST
I have found that a whole lot of people don't know what a fractal is, and yet I'm betting that everyone has seen plenty of them!
Fractals can be described as mathematical structures consisting of recursive patterns. Pine cones, ferns, and frost on your window are examples of natural fractals.
Here's what Wikipedia says:
A fractal is a "rough or fragmented shape that can be split into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-sized copy of the whole," a property called self-similarity.
And here's what Answers.com says:
A geometric pattern that is repeated at ever smaller scales to produce irregular shapes and surfaces that cannot be represented by classical geometry. Fractals are used especially in computer modeling of irregular patterns and structures in nature.
But how about if I just show you one! It was designed by yours truly.
What do you think? Do you know what a fractal is yet?
2 responses
@GDTimothy (446)
• United States
21 Jul 10
Thanks for coming by ElicBxn! I'll be posting more of my fractal creations soon. But I'm really new here, so I have yet to figure a lot of things out.
However, the fractal generator programs available now make things a lot easier. Mostly it's a lot of playing around changing the numbers and parameters, and you don't have to know much math at all to have fun with them.
1 person likes this
@abitosunshine (765)
• United States
21 Jul 10
Gary, I've been viewing your fractals for awhile now and enJOY them immensely. However, I never actually knew what they were either, so I'm delighted you've posted this fractal information/definition. As one who plays a lot with graphic design, I have an idea of how much time and talent is involved in your fractal creations and appreciate your sharing them, thank you!
