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Total Triangles in Fractal Design

The document describes how to calculate the number of triangles in a Sierpinski gasket fractal shape generated through a recursive process of dividing an initial triangle into smaller triangles. It involves constructing the shape through 5 stages of subdividing existing triangles into 4 congruent triangles and removing the central one. The number of new triangles triples with each stage. Using the geometric progression formula with a common ratio of 3, the total number of triangles is calculated to be 161, consisting of 121 upright and 40 inverted triangles.

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Chandrahas Halai
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46 views5 pages

Total Triangles in Fractal Design

The document describes how to calculate the number of triangles in a Sierpinski gasket fractal shape generated through a recursive process of dividing an initial triangle into smaller triangles. It involves constructing the shape through 5 stages of subdividing existing triangles into 4 congruent triangles and removing the central one. The number of new triangles triples with each stage. Using the geometric progression formula with a common ratio of 3, the total number of triangles is calculated to be 161, consisting of 121 upright and 40 inverted triangles.

Uploaded by

Chandrahas Halai
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

How Many Triangles?

By Chandrahas M. Halai

To answer this question, let us construct the figure.

Diagram 1

Stage 1
Draw an equilateral triangle as shown in diagram no. 1. At this stage we have
one triangle.
Diagram 2

Stage 2
Join the midpoints of the sides of the equilateral triangle. This will divide the
triangle into four congruent (same size) equilateral triangles. Now as shown in
diagram no. 2 remove the central triangle from this. At this stage we have 3
new upright (white) triangles and one inverted (black) triangle.

Diagram 3
Stage 3
Now divide each of these three new triangles as per the directions given in
step no. 2 into four equilateral triangles. Then as shown in diagram no. 3
remove their central triangles. At this stage we have 9 new upright (white)
triangles and 3 new inverted (black) triangles.

Diagram 4

Stage 4
Now as per the directions given in step no. 2 and as shown in diagram no. 4
divide each of these nine new triangles into four equilateral triangles and
remove their central triangles. At this stage we have 27 new upright (white)
triangles and 9 new inverted (black) triangles.
Diagram 5

Stage 5
Now as per the directions given in step no. 2 and as shown in diagram no. 5
divide each of these 27 new triangles into four equilateral triangles and
remove their central triangles. At this stage we have 81 new upright (white)
triangles and 27 new inverted (black) triangles.

Every part of this complex figure, we just created, is a replica of the whole. This
design evolves with the execution of each step. This pattern is known as the
Sierspinki’s Gasket.

The geometry of self-replicating shapes is known as Fractal Geometry. Nature


abounds with things having such shapes. They can be found in the clouds,
coast line, river deltas, lightening, icicles, mountain ranges, ferns, cyclones and
hurricanes and much more.

If you closely observe the steps involved in constructing the above figure you
might have noticed that the numbers of new upright and inverted triangles are
tripled at every stage. This means the numbers of new triangles created at
every stage are in geometry progression.

Total number of triangles = total number of upright triangles + total number of


inverted triangles
Where,
n = number of stages (5 for the given figure)
r = common ratio (3, since the number of new triangles is tripled at every
stage)

Here, we should note that the creation of inverted triangles begins from stage
no. 2.

Substituting the values in the given formulae we get:

Total number of triangles = 121 (number of upright triangles) + 40 (number of


inverted triangles) = 161 triangles

Hence, there are a total of 161 triangles in the given figure.

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