Chapter 7: The Luckless Revolutionary

What is Symmetry?


A symmetry happens when an object is transformed but its structure is still preserved. Symmetry can be seen as more of a process rather than a thing. There are three key concepts to symmetry; transformation, structure, and preserve. We can apply these concepts to an equilateral triangle.

Transformation: There are alot of things we can do to the triangle; bend it, rotate it, stretch it, etc. However, what we can do is limited by the second word, structure.

Structure: The structure of the triangle consists of its mathematical features, such as the length of a side (therefore no stretching), and the number of sides (no crumpling), also that the sides are straight (no bending).

Preserve: The structure of the transformed object must match the original structure. Therefore the sides must all still be straight and the same length, there must be 3 sides, the location must also be the same therefore sliding it is also out of the picture. Turning it on an angle does preserve some of the structure, but the location may appear different, depending on much of an angle to rotated it.