The Mathematics of

Patterns and
Symmetries
“MOTIF”
Any non-empty plane set (Grunbaum and
Shephard, 1987)

“PATTERN”
Repetitions of a “motif” in the plane.
I. Transformations and
Isometries
 I.i Transformations
A transformation is a general term for four specific
ways to manipulate the shape of a point, a line, or
shape.
The original shape of the object is called the pre-
image and the final shape and position of the
object is the image under the transformation.

 https://www.mathwarehouse.com/transformation
s/#ixzz5nu7AX6dO
 a. Translation
Slides a figure in any particular
direction or distance.
 b. Reflection
Mirrors a figure over a line.
 c. Rotation
Turns a figure about a certain
point in a plane.
 d. Dilation
Shrinks or expands a figure by
some scaling factor.
 I.ii Isometries
A transformation that
preserves congruence. In other words, a
transformation in which the image and
preimage have the same side lengths and
angle measurements.

https://www.mathwarehouse.com/transfo
rmations/#ixzz5ntsqchl7
 I.iii Glide Reflection

It is a combination of a
translation and a reflection.
II. Symmetry
 II.i Symmetry
Also formed by composition of
isometries in the plane.

Three broad types of symmetries:

a.Rosette patterns
b.Frieze patterns
c.Wallpaper patterns
 II.i.a Rosette Patterns

Has only reflections and

rotations, and no translations
or glide reflections.
 II.i.b Frieze Patterns
Has reflections and rotations.
Also contains translations and
glide reflections but only along
one line.
II.i.c Wallpaper Patterns
Has rotations, reflections, and
glide reflections. Also has
translations in two linearly
independent directions.
III. Tessellations
 III.i Tesselation Definition
A pattern covering a plane by fitting together
replicas of the same basic shape.
Comes from the Latin word “tessera” which
means a square tablet or a die used in
gambling.

Types:
a. Regular Tesselations
b.Semi-Regular Tesselations
c. Demi-Regular Tesselations
 Regular Tesselations
A tessellation made up of congruent regular
polygons.

PROPERTIES:
1.The tessellations must tile a floor (that goes on
forever) with no overlaps or gaps.
2.The tiles must be the same regular polygons.
3.All vertices must look the same.
 Semi-Regular Tesselations
Also known as Archimedean
tessellations. Are regular
tessellations of two or more
different polygons around a
vertex and each vertex has the
same arrangement of polygons.
 Demi-Regular Tesselations

An edge-to-edge tessellation, but

the order or arrangement of
polygons at each vertex is not the
same.
IV. Fractals
IV.i Fractal Definition
Are mathematical constructs
characterized by self-similarity.
The function which iterates a
figure to make it smaller and
smaller or bigger and bigger
using a scaling factor.