Mathematical Sweater



Sondra Eklund, a knitter, mathematician, and YA librarian, designed and crafted this sweater. It shows, in colors, the prime factorization of every number between 2 and 100:

Okay, here’s how it works. You have to start in the bottom lefthand corner, because the mathematician in me couldn’t bear to start anywhere except where the origin would be on Cartesian coordinates. Naturally, the numbers go from left to right and from low to high.

Okay, look at the bottom row. It looks like there is a blank space on the left. That represents 1, because 1 is the background color, because 1 is a factor of every number. Next is a blue square, which represents 2. Next is a red square, for 3. Then comes 4. 4 = 2 x 2. So 4 is represented by two blue rectangles. Then comes 5. 5 is prime, so 5 gets a new color, yellow.

Next is 6. 6 = 2 x 3. So 6 is represented by a blue rectangle and a red rectangle. [...] Get the idea? This sweater presents a chart giving the color-coded prime factorization of every number from 2 to 100.


Makes sense to me.

Link -via Nerdcore

Login to comment.
Click here to access all of this post's 3 comments




Email This Post to a Friend
"Mathematical Sweater"

Separate multiple emails with a comma. Limit 5.

 

Success! Your email has been sent!

close window
X

This website uses cookies.

This website uses cookies to improve user experience. By using this website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

I agree
 
Learn More