Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Symmetry and Automobile Tires

It has been months since I have written a post on symmetry. The previous posts are here in case you are interested. 

Since I have taken Symmetry and Group Theory, I am obsessed with daily objects' point group symmetries. At first, it was like a game. But now, it is like a duty. So, I read a few papers about tires and their point group symmetries. 




They were both published in Journal of Chemical Education and I think they do a great job to visualize the topic. I really like the author's enthusiasm about tires and their symmetries:

"A stroll through a parking lot becomes an adventure in group theory."

Unfortunately, both articles are still not open access. So, I am not sure if I can copy and paste the photos they used in their papers here. If you have access, I suggest you should read them. It will take 15 minutes the most. There are all sorts of point groups including point groups like D80, C22 etc.







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