Impossible Braids!

Here is a lovely mystery about braids:
Must one have three loose ends in order to make a braid?

To make sense of this question, look at this video: Braid Mystery.
For a resolution to the mystery see Braid Resolution.

For more on braids and teacup twists and other braid wonders see the June 2013 COOL MATH ESSAY. More still appears in chapter 3 of Math Galore!

• ON-LINE SHORT COURSES!

  QUADRATICS, Permutations and Combinations, EXPLODING DOTS, and more!

  Written for educators - and their students too! - this website, slowly growing, takes all the content Tanton has developed in his books, videos, and workshops, and organizes it into short, self-contained, and complete, curriculum units proving that mathematics, at all points of the school curriculum, can be joyous, fresh, innovative, rich, deep-thinking, and devoid of any rote doing! Let's teach generations of students to be self-reliant thinkers, willing to flail and to use their common sense to "nut their way" through challenges, to assess and judge results, and to adjust actions to find success. (Great life skills!)

  CHECK OUT: www.gdaymath.com

• Books

  • Thinking Mathematics! (TEN VOLUMES)
  • Solve This: Mathematical Activities for Students and Clubs
  • Encyclopedia of Mathematics
  • Geometry I & II

• Get in touch

  Email: tanton.math@gmail.com