Class Central is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

FutureLearn

Flexagons and the Math Behind Twisted Paper

Weizmann Institute of Science via FutureLearn

Overview

Prepare for a new career with $100 off Coursera Plus
Gear up for jobs in high-demand fields: data analytics, digital marketing, and more.

Discover the unusual math of twisted strips of paper

Flexagons are twisted strips of folded paper, which reveal their properties when flexed.

This online course will explain what flexagons are, their history and their naming conventions. You’ll find out how to create your own flexagons and be able to share them with our global community of learners.

You’ll also explore mathematical fields that provide tools to analyze flexagons, including topology and graph theory and learn about Möbius strips, Tuckermann diagrams and more.

This course is aimed at learners who enjoy being creative, solving puzzles, folding paper and revealing hidden mathematics. It will be especially useful for parents or teachers looking to inspire a love of math and do fun math activities with young people.

Syllabus

  • Welcome to the world of flexagons!
    • Who are we and what do we want?
    • The tri-hexa-flexagon
    • Non-cyclic flexagons
    • Exploring flexagons
  • More flexagons
    • More cyclic flexagons
    • The Magic square flexagon
  • The math behind flexagons
    • The Möbius strip
    • Flexagon Nomenclature revisited
    • Course Summary

Taught by

Yossi Elran

Reviews

4.0 rating, based on 1 Class Central review

4.4 rating at FutureLearn based on 42 ratings

Start your review of Flexagons and the Math Behind Twisted Paper

  • Cord.
    This is a good introduction to flexagons, I suppose. It's quite easy to follow through, and it introduces very interesting concepts which one couldn't have imagined at first, like Möbius strips, magic squares and Catalan numbers. For the most part,…

Never Stop Learning.

Get personalized course recommendations, track subjects and courses with reminders, and more.

Someone learning on their laptop while sitting on the floor.