I can’t tell you how much it warms my editor’s heart to see readers trying their hands at the projects we publish and reporting the results back to us. Charlotte DeKoning saw our recent Math Monday column on making mathematical constructions with office supplies and decided to accept the challenge of building a snub dodecahedron out of office supplies. She modified her model a bit, but it still turned out pretty cool. Go, Charlotte!
She writes:
I saw the recent Math Monday post featuring a computer generated model of a snub dodecahedron made of paperclips, and I couldn’t resist trying it out for myself. I modified the model a bit, making it smaller (one paperclip per edge), and reinforcing the vertices using twist ties with the paper stripped off (keeping with the office supplies theme). I think it turned out really well, and it is surprisingly sturdy, if a bit lumpy in places.
This was very fun to build, and I’m looking forward to acquiring more paperclips so I can continue on to the other Archimedian Solids!
If others have built models based on George Hart’s Math Monday columns, we’d love to see them. Post links in comments below or email me.
ADVERTISEMENT
