Bubbles and bridges
21 December 2005
by Carina
Lee
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The existence of a new minimal surface called a genus one helicoid has been recently proven by mathematicians from Indiana, Rice, and Stanford University. The helical structure, a flat plane twisted an indefinite number of times, resembles a spiral parking ramp. Matthias Weber, of Indiana University, explains "This proof tells us that our intuition was not quite right about what is possible and what is not possible. Probably one reason it was not discovered sooner is that no one imagined that something like this could exist." When you dip a curved wire into detergent mixture, the bubble that forms takes the smallest area possible. This is due to the pressure on both sides of a surface being equal. Surface tension is minimized when the bubble has the smallest surface area. Objects with minimal surfaces are physically stable and this property makes them very useful in the field of architectural design, creating visually enchanting artwork using mathematical applications.
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