Isometries, Symmetries and Patterns

1. Transformations and Isometries

2. Symmetric Patterns
A. Rosette Patterns
B. Frieze Patterns
C. Wallpaper Patterns
Mathematics is regarded as a study of patterns.
Patterns in Nature

A still lake reflects the sky and trees in Canada.

Recognize symmetry
Symmetric
• Symmetrical Letters How about ?
A figure or a design is symmetric if there is an isometry
that maps the figure onto itself.

It can be
divided into
identical
parts

A patch of the Penrose tiling

To generate symmetric designs, we need a motif and an isometry.

An isometry is a transformation.
Transformation
A transformation is a function which changes the
position, orientation, and possible the size of a
geometric shape.
4 Types of Transformations A Transformation is a
1. Translation process which shifts
points of the plane to
2. Reflection
possibly new locations on
3. Rotation the plane.
4. Dilation
1. TRANSLATION
• Each point of a figure is moved from the same distance in
the same direction.
• A translation is determined by a vector.

Vector gives
the distance
and direction.
1. TRANSLATION
• Each point of a figure is moved from the same distance in
the same direction.
• A translation is determined by a vector.

“A translation (or a slide) moves a shape in a given direction by sliding it up, down,
sideways, or diagonally.”
2. REFLECTION “A reflection (or a flip) is getting a mirror
• A figure is reflected about a image. It has a line of reflection or mirror line
where the distance between the image and the
line, called reflection axis mirror line is the same as that between the
original figure and the mirror line.”
• A reflection is determined by a
line of reflection.
Combination of translation and reflection
3. ROTATION
• A figure is rotated about a fixed point, through a given
angle.
• A rotation is determined by a center and angle of rotation.

“A rotation (or a turn) has a point

about which the rotation is made
and an angle that says how far to
rotate.”
Combination of rotation, translation and reflection
4. DILATION
• A figure is resized by a scale factor about a point.
• A dilation is determined by a scale factor and a point of
dilation.

“A dilation is a
transformation which
changes the size of an object”
Dilation is not a symmetry.
Rigid Transformation
Transformations which leave the dimensions of
the object and its image unchanged are called rigid
transformations, or isometric transformations or
isometries.
ISOMETRIES
“iso” Greek for “the same”; metria Greek for “measure”
An isometry of the plane is a mapping that preserves distance
(and therefore shape).
GLIDE REFLECTION
It is possible to combine isometries to produce other
isometries.
• Reflect then translate
• Translate then reflect

A reflection followed by a translation or vice versa

is called a glide reflection.
GLIDE REFLECTION
• A glide reflection is a product of a
reflection and a translation
whose direction is parallel with
the line of reflection.
• A glide reflection is determined
by a reflection line and a parallel
vector.
4 Basic Types of Isometries
1. Translation
2. Reflection
3. Rotation
4. Glide Reflection

Chasle’s Theorem
Every motion of the plane is one of these transformations:
a translation, a rotation, a reflection or a glide transformation.
 A figure is symmetric if there is an isometry that maps the figure
onto itself. In this case, we call the design a symmetric pattern.
SYMMETRIC PATTERNS
The symmetry group of a pattern is the set of all isometries
that map the figure onto itself.
A pattern has n-fold rotational symmetry if it is mapped
360°
by a rotation of angle onto itself. The number n is
𝑛
called the order of rotation.

The pattern has 3-fold

rotational symmetry.
 • A design is a figure with at least one non-trivial symmetry.
• A pattern is a design that has symmetry.
• A plane pattern has symmetry if there is an isometry of the
plane that preserves it.

Three Basic Types of Symmetric Patterns

1. Rosette Pattern
2. Frieze Pattern
3. Wallpaper Pattern
A. ROSETTE PATTERNS
Rosette Patterns are finite symmetric patterns.
This pattern consists of taking a motif or an element
and rotating and/or reflecting that element.
The symmetry group contains no translation.
Rosette Pattern in Nature and Arts
 Two Types of Rosette Pattern
1. CYCLIC C n
It has n fold rotational symmetry and no “reflectional symmetry”
 Two Types of Rosette Pattern
2. DIHEDRAL D n
It has n fold rotational symmetry and reflectional symmetry.
Identify what type of Rosette pattern each figure has.

A B C

D E F
B. FRIEZE PATTERN
• A frieze pattern is an infinitely long strip imprinted with a
design given by a repeating pattern motif.
• The symmetry group of a frieze pattern necessarily contains
translations in one direction.
Frieze Pattern in Nature and Arts
B. FRIEZE PATTERN
A frieze pattern might also be symmetric about
• a horizontal reflection
• a vertical reflection
• a rotation of 180˚ about some point in the design
• a glide reflection
• or some collection of these five basic transformations
Frieze Patterns occur in dance
1.Hop
2.Step
3.Sidle
4.Jump
5.Spinning Hop
6.Spinning Sidle
7.Spinning Jump
 Seven Types of Frieze Patterns
1. Hop
• Symmetry group that contains translation only.
 Seven Types of Frieze Patterns
2. Step
• Symmetry group that contains translation and glide reflections only.
 Seven Types of Frieze Patterns
3. Sidle
• Symmetry group that contains translations, and vertical reflections only.
 Seven Types of Frieze Patterns
4. Jump
• Symmetry group that contains translations, a horizontal reflection,
and glide reflection only.
 Seven Types of Frieze Patterns
5. Spinning Hop
• Symmetry group that contains translations and rotations (180˚).
 Seven Types of Frieze Patterns
6. Spinning Sidle
• Symmetry group that contains translations, vertical
reflections, rotations, and glide reflections.
 Seven Types of Frieze Patterns
7. Spinning Jump
• Symmetry group that contains translation vertical reflections,
horizontal reflections, rotations and glide reflections.
 Seven Types of Frieze Patterns
Summary Pattern Symmetry Group
Hop T
Let:
Step TG
T : Translation Sidle TV
V : Vertical Reflection
H: Horizontal Reflection Jump THG
R : 180˚ rotation Spinning Hop TR
G : Glide Reflection Spinning Sidle TVRG
Spinning Jump TVHRG
Identify the symmetry group of each pattern
a. ________________________

b. ________________________

c. ________________________

d. ________________________

e. ________________________
 Activity
Constructing Frieze Patterns
Using addition table modulo m
Recall: An integer 𝑎 is congruent to an integer 𝑏 modulo a
positive integer 𝑚 if 𝑎 − 𝑏 is divisible by 𝑚.

Addition Table Mod 3

Example
• Consider other addition modulo m and use this to create
some frieze patterns.
• What if the addition table is extended?
• What pattern can be seen in the table?
• What are other ways of representing the remainders in
the addition table modulo m?
C. WALLPAPER PATTERN
• A wallpaper pattern covers the plane and can be mapped
onto itself by translation in more than one direction.
 Types of Wallpaper Pattern
• p1 – The symmetry group contains translation only.
 Types of Wallpaper Pattern
• pg – The symmetry group contains 180˚ rotation and translations.
 Types of Wallpaper Pattern
• p3 – The symmetry group contains rotations of 120˚ and translations.
 Types of Wallpaper Pattern
• p4 – The symmetry group contains order of 90˚ and translations.
 Types of Wallpaper Pattern
• pm – The symmetry group contains translations and reflections
(parallel to one axis of translation and perpendicular to the other
axis of translation).
Escher’s Tesselations
References:
Campeña, Francis Joseph H.(2015). The Mathematics of Patterns.
Perspective, Problems and Practices in Mathematics and Statistics.
De La Salle University .

Say-awen, April Lynne D. (2018). Geometric Designs. MSP Calabarzon

Enrichment Program for the New GE Course: Mathematics in the
Modern World. De La Salle University