Trefoil knot (10th of November, 2014)

Trefoil knot is the simplest knot. The video in the window above contains a dynamical, three-dimensional visualization of the knot. Click on the arrow (play) to start streaming from YouTube.

The knot can be tied using "ropes" of different thicknesses. For example, the knots in the images above and below have a high ratio of the total length and the radius of the rope.

In case of the knot in the image below, this ratio is smaller.

Finally, there is a minimal ratio of the length vs radius for which a rope can still be "tied". The rope in the image below is close to this ratio.

A branch of mathematics that deals with knots is called the >> knot theory and belongs mostly to topology. Knots are of interest to physicists also. Imagine, for example a long molecule like DNA. Can it be entangled and tied in a knot in physiological conditions?

This post is, by the way a byproduct of a research that I work on for quite some time and that is slowly (to slowly for my taste) coming to its conclusion. I hope that I will be able to say some more about it soon.

I briefly mentioned knots in an ancient post called >> Leonardo's knotiness.

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Last updated on 10th of November, 2014.