Cones are kinda round, but put them together right and you can make a cubic decoration. Sound confusing? Don’t worry, it’s really simple and really fun!
If you don’t have a printer, you can make your own template. Draw six equal circles, and then measure an angle of 255 degrees at the middle of each, to make a ‘Pac-Man’ shape.
For an extra challenge, you can make a dodecahedral decoration with 12 cones. Download the template here.
The shape you’ve made looks round when you look at it one way, but from another angle it looks square. There are six circular ‘faces’ appearing at the top, bottom, front, back, left and right. This is the same arrangement as the faces of a cube. It’s like a hidden structure to our not-quite-round decoration!
Scientists and mathematicians are very good at finding hidden structures inside objects. One way to find hidden cubes is to look for symmetry. Symmetry comes in different forms – you can turn a cube upside down, and it will look the same. You can rotate it 90 degrees, or look at it in a mirror and it will look the same.
There are hidden symmetries inside all crystals. Scientists use a technique called X-ray crystallography to examine these symmetries and discover the hidden shapes inside crystals.
Another mathematical bauble for you to make!
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