Spider Web Math In Nature

It is interesting that stewart sees fit to take his adult readers on that intriguing and important journey into pattern as he explores what mathematics is for and what it is about.

Spider web math in nature. A spider found in 2012 in the peruvian amazon uses its trash in a more elaborate way creating what looks like a decoy spider that hangs in its web. 15 beautiful examples of mathematics in nature. God designed spiders to spin these marvelous structures. Orb spiders create webs that are nearly completely symmetrical and also nearly completely circular.

Spiders are yet one more example of how as we use math to explore god s creation we re awed at the creator s wisdom and care. If i were a spider i would die. The patterns of the giraffe tiger fish or spider s web are unique to that species. Fractals a fractal is a type of curve which has some feature repeated on a different scale such as the pattern of a coastline.

The fake spider is about an inch long and its. Although individuals within the species may vary each spider builds its web according to the pattern of its species. Orb web spiders there are approximately 5 000 types of orb web spiders. There is a type of spider web called an orb web.

However my web is very fragile and was only sticky for about 2 seconds. I mean just look at them. The properties of hot glue are actually pretty similar to the sticky silk that spiders use since both materials solidify almost instantly. In a report published in nature researchers wrote spider webs themselves are characterized by a highly organized geometry that optimizes their function 1 the team tested the behavior both of radial threads and spiral threads in order to discover secrets of web geometry.

Spiral plane curve that in general winds around a point while moving ever farther from the point. We don t know how they do it but they do. The spiders seem to have a natural ability to judge geometrical distance with astounding accuracy. Many kinds of spiral are known the first dating from the days of ancient greece the curves are observed in nature and human beings have used them in machines and in ornament notably architectural for example the whorl in an ionic capital.

All of them create near perfect circular webs that have near equal distanced radial supports coming out of the middle and a spiral that is woven to catch prey. We don t even know why they do it. It just goes to show that spiders are true engineers by nature. Spider webs themselves are characterized by a highly organized geometry that optimizes their function 2.

So begins ian stewart s book nature s numbers a fieldtrip that takes the reader sightseeing in the mathematical universe that is the world around us. Like spokes on a bicycle wheel the radial threads anchor to. Life facts april 28 2015.