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0 INTRODUCTION

A tessellation is created when a shape is repeated over and over again


covering a plane without any gaps or overlaps. Another word of tessellation is tilling.
Tilling means when you fit something to fill a flat space. For example of tiling are at
ceiling, floor and wall.

Steven (1994) says tessellation is a noun and it came from Latin word,
‘tessera’ that means a square tablet’ or ‘a die used for gambilng’. Word tessera may
have been borrowed from Greek, tessares that gave meaning ‘four’, since a square
tile has four sides. The diminutive of tessera was tessella, a small, square piece of
stone or a cubical tile used in mosaics. Since a mosaic extends over a given area
without leaving any region uncovered, the geometric meaning of the word tessellate
is to cover the plane with a pattern in such a way as to leave no region uncovered.
By extension, space or hyperspace may also be tessellated.

In tessellation, there are many types of dimension such as three dimensions,


two dimensions and polytopes dimensions (n). Two dimensions (2 D) tessellation
also can be called by another name. A tilling of regular polygons. According to Woo
et al. (1999), tessellation is the breaking up of self-intersecting polygons into simple
polygons or more proper, polygon tessellation.

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2.0 REGULAR TESSELLATION

A regular polygon has 3 or 4 or 5 or more sides and angles, all equal. A


regular tessellation means a tessellation made up of congruent regular polygons.
Regular means that the sides of the polygon are all the same length. Congruent
means that the polygons that you put together are all the same size and shape.
Below are the example of regular polygon.

A tessellation of triangles has six polygons surrounding a vertex, and each of them
has three sides: "3.3.3.3.3.3".

Triangles
3.3.3.3.3.3

For a tessellation of regular congruent hexagons, if you choose a vertex and count
the sides of the polygons that touch it, there are three polygons and each has six
sides, so this tessellation is called "6.6.6":

Hexagons
6.6.6

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There are four polygons, and each has four sides.

Squares
4.4.4.4

When you look at these three samples you can easily notice that the squares
are lined up with each other while the triangles and hexagons are not. Also, if you
look at 6 triangles at a time, they form a hexagon, so the tiling of triangles and the
tiling of hexagons are similar and they cannot be formed by directly lining shapes up
under each other - a slide is involved.

All of the tesselation are self-intersecting by a vertex. A vertex is just a corner


point and from the pattern at each vertex can identify the shape of tessletion.

Look at a vertex, there are shapes have meet. Three hexagons meet at this
vertex and a hexagon has six sides. So, this is called a “ 6.6.6” tessellation.

To name a tessellation, go around a vertex and write down how many sides
each polygon has, in order such as like "3.12.12". And always start at the polygon
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with the least number of sides, so "3.12.12", not "12.3.12". In these tilings, at each
vertex of each polygon, three or more polygons must meet.

Since the regular polygons in a tessellation must fill the plane at each vertex,
the interior angle must be an exact divisor of 360 degrees. This works for the triangle,
square, and hexagon, and it show working tessellations for these figures. For all the
others, the interior angles are not exact divisors of 360 degrees, and therefore those
figures cannot tile the plane.

Here are the interior measure of the angles for each of these polygons:

shape Angle measure in degrees

triangle 60
square 90
pentagon 108
hexagon 120
more than six sides more than 120 degrees

3.0 SEMI-REGULAR TESSELLATION

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Other than regular polygon tessellation, there are semi-regular tessellation.
A semi-regular tessellation is made of two or more regular polygonswhich are fitted
together in such a way that the same polygons in the same cyclic order surround
every vertex. There are eight semi-regular tessellations which comprise different
combinations of equilateral triangles, squares, hexagons, octagons and
dodecagons. The pattern at each vertex must be the same.

According to information from website mathisfun.com, there are eight type of


semi-regular tessellation. Here there are examples of eight type of semi-regular
tessellation.

   

3.3.3.3.6   3.3.3.4.4   3.3.4.3.4


       

   

3.4.6.4   3.6.3.6   3.12.12


       

    

4.6.12   4.8.8   
       

Besides that, a semi regular tessellation or Archimedean tessellation has two


main properties. First, It is formed by two or more regular polygons, each with the
same side length. Second, each vertex has the same pattern of polygons around it.

4.0 DEMIREGULAR TESSELLATION

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In regular and semiregular tessellations, the arrangement of the polygons at
each vertex point is the same. In demiregular tessellations the arrangement of the
polygons at each vertex point is not the same. They might include a combination of
two or three vertex point types. A vertex point in a demiregular tessellation may be
regular, semiregular, or nonregular. There are at least fourteen demiregular
tessellations. Below is the example of demiregular tessellation.

A demiregular tessellation, also called a polymorph tessellation. Some authors


define them as orderly compositions of the three regular and eight semiregular
tessellations which is not precise enough to draw any conclusions from, while others
defined them as a tessellation having more than one transitivity class of vertices
which leads to an infinite number of possible tilings.

(Sumber : http://mathworld.wolfram.com)

5.0 NONREGULAR TESSELLATION

Nonregular tessellation shapes are shapes where the interior angles add up to
360 degrees. M.C. Escher made these shapes famous in his works. These are
tessellations with nonregular simple convex or concave polygons. All triangles and
quadrilaterals will tessellate. Some pentagons and hexagons will. Non-regular
tessellations are those in which there is no restriction on the order of the polygons
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around vertices. There is an infinite number of such tessellations.

Examples of nonregular tessellations.

Tessellations can be created by performing one or more of three basic


operations, translation, rotation and reflection, on a polyiamond. See Figure:

(Sumber: http://www.mathpuzzle.com)

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MY TESSELLATION DESIGN

6.0 OVERVIEW

From all the based information of tessellation and design have created , I
finally make a decisions to choose design from demiregular tessellation for my task
two, 2 D Tessellation. This is because along the designing tessellation process, I

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realize that my design has two vertex points. Other than that, design that I had use is
a transformation from one of Semiregular tessellation types. The pattern is 4.8.8.

This Demiregular tessellation form when the time to put an outline for my
design. I make a cross in the space of square that sat between octagon shapes. The
form of cross on the square had formed to another vertex point. So that, my
tessellation has two type of pattern due to two vertexes point. First pattern of
tessellation is 3.3.3.3 and the second one is 3.3.8.8.

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EXPLAINATION OF MY TESSELLATION

To describe the steps of creating my tessellation design, I totally use


translation technique that was being popular by M.C Esher. A translation is a
movement is a specific direction, without turning or reflecting. Use a tessellation
tracer to draw a square, make a change to one of its sides and use tracing paper to
copy the modified square. Slide the original paper so that the change is translated to
the opposite side and copy it, as shown below.

a b

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d c

Then, make an octagon shape on the square shape, as shown below.

The sides of square abcd can be completely redrawn since sides ab, bc, cd
and ad are all distinct types of sides. Notice that a new type of same shape is formed
after the sides are translated. This same process can be applied to a square when
two adjacent sides are changed.

Start with a square and change two adjacent sides, trace the changes and
translate these changes to the opposite sides as shown below. Form the tessellation
by tracing this shape at least 6 to 12 times and shade or color alternating shapes.

Use a new sheet of tracing paper to copy this shape until at least 6 shapes are
traced. Shade or color the tessellation as shown below.

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In my 2 D tessellation design, the basic 2 D shapes of my tessellations are
irregular octagon and isosceles triangle. There are another 2 D shape that formed
base on both octagon and isosceles triangle due to no gaps and overlap between all
shapes. There are big square, and rhombus. Below is the table of shape that I used
in tessellation design.

Name 2 D Shapes
Octagon

Rhombus

Right angel triangle

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Square

Now, I would like to describe a colour that I use for my basic 2 D shapes in
tessellation. Basically, I just use two colours, that are blue and red for irregular
octagon and rhombus exactly. The reason I choose both of this colour is because, I
prefer my tessellation design can be use on mosaic wall in the toilet. That how I
imagine my tessellation for.

Octagon Rhombus

Besides that, there are a right angle triangle that formed due to cross line in
the rhombus shape. So that, the colour of isosceles triangle is also in red colour too.

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Isosceles triangle

Next is the square shapes form base on irregular octagon and a cross line
from the rhombus shape. Thus, to explain the colour of square shape from my
tessellation is in blue and red colour in the side corner is isosceles triangle shape.

Square

REFLECTION

Assalamualaikum wbt. This Math task has been given to our class from our
lecturer . He gave us on a first brief about the task by that time. From this task, we
must doing in individual. I must create and draw a 2-D tessellation design manually
without using any graphics item from technology like computers and internets, copy
the designing and paste then print it. From that I had realize to put my brain on
designing by myself is really difficult and we will not easily to give our own designing
to other stranger people who want it easily. Now, I know what the feeling of master
minder in any work when people do the duplicates.

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At the beginning I’ve got problem to finish this task. I didn’t know meaning of
the tessellation and how to draw a 2-D tessellation design. So I met my senior Math
and told her my problem. She thought me how to make a 2-D tessellation and she
also gave an example of 2-D tessellation. After she gave information and teach me
how to make and draw a tessellation, so I started make a draft. At the first, it so
difficult but with comment from my friends, I can finish this tessellation design. We fill
very happy because our tessellation really unique and beautiful.

At the same time, I look for other information of 2 D tessellation from the
internets and a few books. When I read the information again and again to
understand about it more, I knew that my design of tessellation was wrong because
some of the polygon shapes were have not a vertex that intercept with another
polygon shapes. So that, I make a new one with other way that more easily by using
A4 colour papers because I knew that my colouring technique was not good at all.

Furthermore, I feel very excited to do this assignment. My first draft of


tessellation, I design it using paper and pencil (drawing skills). I love drawing. But
then when times to colour it, I have a problems because I hate colouring. So, I think
and think how to solve this designing problem using another way. So that I get the
ideas by using A4 papers that is more neatly for my assignment differ from other
friends. That how I did it. Thanks to my friend Ain Nadia because show me the great
ideas on designing this 2 D tessellation

Other than that, I also learn something that important in doing this task or
another assignment too for this semester. That are confident of ourselves. Honestly,
when doing this assignment task, I always want to compare on how to describe the
tessellation. Actually, there is no need because we have a good explanations from
lecturer. All we have to do is read again and again the information to understand it by
our own and do the task in your way and not according same like your friend. Be
confident.

Last but not list, I am very happy cause can finished this task with flying
colours. The most obviously that I realized I had change in myself after finishing this
tasks, it had totally changed my perception tessellation because there are a
thousand and one way how to do it. Now, I really enjoyed tessellation topics and I
becoming to love art too.

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As the conclusion, for me, this task is very good for student in order to
improve their mathematics skill on designing more and developed their interest on
this subject most and also the art too.

BIBLIOGRAFI

Sumber Buku:

Britton, J. Symmetry and Tessellations: Investigating Patterns. Englewood Cliffs,


NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1999.

Critchlow, K. Order in Space: A Design Source Book. New York: Viking Press,
1970.

Cundy, H. and Rollett, A. Mathematical Models, 3rd ed. Stradbroke, England:


Tarquin Pub., pp. 60-63, 1989.

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Pappas, T. "Tessellations." The Joy of Mathematics. San Carlos, CA: Wide World
Publ./Tetra, pp. 120-122, 1989.

Kraitchik, M. "Mosaics." §8.2 in Mathematical Recreations. New York:


W. W. Norton, pp. 199-207, 1942.

Sumber Internet:

Tessellation. http://www.mathsisfun.com. accessed on 29th August 2010

Tessellation Patterns. http://mathworld.wolfram.com. Accessed on 29th August


2010.

Defination of Tessellation. http://mathforum.org. Accessed on 29th August


2010.

Tessellation Design. http://gwydir.demon.co.uk. Accessed on 29th August


2010.

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