Möbius strip facts for kids
The Möbius strip or Möbius band is a looped surface with only one side and only one edge. It can be made using a strip of paper by gluing the two ends together with a half-twist. The twisting is possible in two directions; so there are two different (mirror-image) Möbius strips.
The Mobius strip is known for its unusual properties. A bug crawling along the center line of the loop would go around twice before coming back to its starting point. Cutting along the center line of the loop creates one longer band, not two. Cutting one third of the way in from the edge (and parallel to it) produces another amusing result.
The Möbius strip was discovered independently by the German mathematicians August Ferdinand Möbius and Johann Benedict Listing in 1858.
Möbius bands in nature and technology
There have been several technical applications for the Möbius strip. Some famous visual examples are:
Giant Möbius strips have been used as conveyor belts. Such belts last longer because the entire surface area of the belt gets the same amount of wear. Möbius bands have also been used as continuous-loop recording tapes (to double the playing time). Möbius strips are common in the making of fabric computer printer and typewriter ribbons. There, they allow the ribbon to be twice as wide as the print head while using both half-edges evenly.
Related pages
Images for kids
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A 2D object traversing once around the Möbius strip returns in mirrored form
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Trihexaflexagon being flexed
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Endless Twist, Max Bill, 1956, from the Middelheim Open Air Sculpture Museum
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NASCAR Hall of Fame entrance
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See also
In Spanish: Banda de Möbius para niños
