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Plots of twisted ribbons

John Fredsted 2243 Maple
October 20 2007
0

In order to get better acquainted with the plotting facilities of Maple I thought I would try to plot the Möbius strip. In the proces I generalized the task so that I would be able to plot a ribbon twisted an arbitrary number of times. From these efforts the following code resulted:

with(plots):
radiusVector := (phi) -> Vector([cos(phi),sin(phi),0]):
ribbonVector := (phi) -> Vector([-sin(phi)*cos(phi),-sin(phi)*sin(phi),cos(phi)]):
p := (twist,theTitle,theOrientation) -> plot3d(
   radiusVector(phi) + t*ribbonVector(twist*phi),phi=0..2*Pi,t=-0.3..0.3,
   title=theTitle,orientation=theOrientation,grid=[100,10],scaling=constrained
):

Below follow two examples: 1. Ribbon with 1/2 twist: The Möbius strip:

display(p(1/2,"Ribbon with 1/2 twist: The Möbius strip",[200,70]));

 

2. Ribbon with 1/1 twist:

display(p(1/1,"Ribbon with 1/1 twist",[40,60]));

plot ribbon

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