Zigzag

A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular.

From the point of view of symmetry, a regular zigzag can be generated from a simple motif like a line segment by repeated application of a glide reflection.

The origin of the word is unclear. Its first printed appearance was in French books in the late 17th century.

Examples of zigzags

Lightning and other electrical hazards are often depicted with a zigzag design, with long downward strokes and short backward ones.

The trace of a triangle wave or a sawtooth wave is a zigzag.

Pinking shears are designed to cut cloth or paper with a zigzag edge, to lessen fraying.

A carpenter's folding ruler is a zigzag.

Zigzags are a basic decorative pattern used on pottery, and are often seen in the cuts which separate pieces of ravioli pasta.

In sewing, a zigzag stitch is a machine stitch in a zigzag pattern.

Zig zag (railway)

A railway zig zag, also called a switchback, is a method of climbing steep gradients with minimal need for tunnels and heavy earthworks. For a short distance (corresponding to the middle leg of the letter "Z"), the direction of travel is reversed, before the original direction is resumed.

A location on railways constructed by using a zig-zag alignment at which trains have to reverse direction in order to continue is a reversing station.

Advantages

Zig zags tend to be cheaper to construct because the grades required are discontinuous. Civil engineers can generally find a series of shorter segments going back and forth up the side of a hill more easily and with less grading than they can a continuous grade which has to contend with the larger scale geography of the hills to be surmounted.

Disadvantages

Zig zags suffer from a number of limitations:

Zigzag (disambiguation)

Zigzag, ZigZag, zig zag, zig-zag, zig zak or zig-zak is a jagged, regular pattern. It may also refer to:

Animals

Architecture

Computer science

Electrical engineering