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Intrinsic curvature
How might we tell anything about the curvature of a
surface if all we know is how the triangles are glued together and are given
no information about the location of the nodes? The answer is that if we
assume all of the links are the same length, making all of the triangles
equilateral, the curvature is built into the surface.
Experiment
You need:
- A bunch of drinking straws
- Stapler
Use the stapler to connect the straws together as shown in the four
pictures below.
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Join the straws only at the very ends and do not trim the length of any of
them. First join the straws at the center, then fasten the straws that go
around the outside.
Of the four arrangements,
- Which lie flat on a table?
- Which makes a pyramid?
- Which makes a floppy saddle shape?
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How to connect up the drinking straws
A bigger image is available
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Here are photographs of what you get.
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