
The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin.

The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. You can even tessellate pentagons, but they won’t be regular ones. You can have other tessellations of regular shapes if you use more than one type of shape. Triangles, squares and hexagons are the only regular shapes which tessellate by themselves. (triangle)Equilateral triangles, squares and regular hexagons are the only regular polygons that will tessellate. Which regular polygon will tessellate alone? A regular quadrilateral (square), each angle is 90 degrees, as 90 is a divisor of 360. The only regular polygons that tessellate are Equilateral triangles, each angle 60 degrees, as 60 is a divisor of 360. Triangles are the easiest shape to tessellate, and the formlessness of ghosts makes tessellation easy. This also explains why squares and hexagons tessellate, but other polygons like pentagons won’t. Thus, 6 triangles can come together at every point because 6×60˚=360˚. In an equilateral triangle, each vertex is 60˚. Why do only triangles squares and hexagons tessellate?Ī shape will tessellate if its vertices can have a sum of 360˚. Only three regular polygons (shapes with all sides and angles equal) can form a tessellation by themselves-triangles, squares, and hexagons. Each of these can be arranged into an infinite strip with parallel sides, copies of which will naturally cover the plane. Squares, rectangles, parallelograms, trapezoids tessellate the plane each in many ways. Therefore, there are only three regular tessellations. In general, in order for a shape to tessellate the plane, it must satisfy the following property: For a…Įquilateral triangles, squares and regular hexagons are the only regular polygons that will tessellate. Mathematicians have been trying to solve these types of problems for hundreds of years.No, a regular octagon cannot tessellate. Trying to avoid gaps in this way is a very famous problem, known as a packing problem. If the pieces tessellate, then they can minimise the gaps, and that means they get more pieces. Often they want to cut as many pieces out of a sheet of metal as possible. Manufacturing companies also use tessellations.

Tessellations are used on everything from carpets to wrapping paper. A lot of things in the world have repeating patterns on them, and understanding the maths going on behind the pattern makes it a lot easier to design them. Even more importantly, every repeating pattern is based on a tessellation. Every tessellation is a repeating pattern. Tessellations are used for more than just tiling. These can be used for things like retaining walls and roofs. More complicated maths is used to design interlocking shapes that can cover a surface. Tessellations are used all the time to design things like bricks and bathroom tiles. You shouldn’t need to rotate the shape to get the outlines to fit together.
