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  • Möbius Strip
    cool stuff/möbius strip/

    If you have a piece of paper, it has two sides, right? If you wanted to colour one side navy blue and one grey, you would have a piece of paper with one side navy blue and one grey, right? If you took a strip of paper and rolled it in to a tube, you still would have two sides (an inside and an outside.)
    But is it possible to have a piece of paper that was only one side? Just add a little twist and you'll be amazed what that will do. This loop called a Möbius Strip, named after the mathematician who invented it. It's strange, it's "magical" and it's surprising.

    How to Make a Möbius Strip Figure 1

    Take a strip of paper and write "A" at the left end of the strip and "B" at the right end. Twist the strip, keeping side B at it's current position. Now, join the upside-down side A and side B together so that they are face-to-face. Tape the ends together on both sides of the paper. It should look like the picture below. You have made the Möbius Strip.
    Figure 2

    The Magical Möbius Strip

    The loop looks as if it has two sides, doesn't it? If you had a Möbius Strip and you started colouring the inside blue, you would have one side blue and one blank, correct? If you actually tried this, you would be in awe that you would have a completely blue Möbius Strip, with both sides blue! The Möbius Strip seems like it has only one side! Pretty freaky huh? Start colouring the whole loop and see for yourself.

    Figure 3

    Further Ideas

    Suppose you took the Möbius Strip and you were to cut it down the middle, all the way around. You will end up with two Möbius Strips right? Wrong! After you finish cutting it down the middle, you will end up with ONE Möbius Strip -- twice as long as the original one! Are you freaked out yet? Try to cut that loop down the middle again. Try it yourself and you'll be amazed.

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