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Applying Modern Mathematics

Surfaces and Topology by Professor Raymond Flood. If we count the number of vertices, v, on a cube, v = 8, number of edges e = 12, and number of faces f = 6, then v¬ - e + f = 2. The same is true for a tetrahedron where v¬ = 4, e = 6 and f = 4. In fact, the mathematician Leonhard Euler obtained the amazing result that v¬ - e + f = 2 for a wide class of polyhedrons. This theorem of Euler is a result in topology, a subject which tries to find those properties of geometrical objects that are invariant under continuous deformation - a tetrahedron can be changed in this way into a cube. Topology is sometimes called rubber sheet geometry. (from gresham.ac.uk)

Surfaces and Topology


Go to the Series Home or watch other lectures:

1. Butterflies, Chaos and Fractals
2. Public Key Cryptography: Secrecy in Public
3. Symmetries and Groups
4. Surfaces and Topology
5. Probability and its Limits
6. Modeling the Spread of Infectious Diseases