figure of 8

[justineo]

Take a long strip of paper, twist it once then stick the ends together.  Can anybody tell me what this represents.  I know it's something I learned about in physics but can't remember what.  (I fully understand if nobody bothers answering this as its a pretty pathetic question)

[jocasta]

As far as i remember from school, isn't it suspposed to represent Infinity? Perhaps someone else can correct me!

[john91]

have a look at http://scidiv.bcc.ctc.edu/Math/Mobius.html or just type mobius into Google

[justineo]

Thanks john, just what I needed

[Peter Pedant]

yes its a Moebius band - Mobius had an umlaut in his name hence the two ways of spelling it.

It turns out that a band such as this has only one side and so is not orientable....

[Gumboot50]

Justineo, have you ever tried cutting a moebius strip lengthways down the middle? Then try cutting it down the middle again. I was very surprised when I tried it the first time.

[GuavaHalf]

Interesting Gumboot50

[justineo]

Thanks PP and gumboot, I'm going to try it now. Just need some paper.