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This document discusses fractals and their applications. It defines fractals as self-similar patterns that repeat themselves at different scales. Common examples given include trees, coastlines, and Romanesco broccoli. The document outlines different types of fractals such as linear and non-linear. It also discusses fractal dimensions and how they are used to measure complexity. Many natural phenomena and structures exhibit fractal properties, including lungs, blood vessels, DNA, proteins, polymers, weather patterns, and chemical reactions. Fractals have applications in data compression, modeling economic markets, and detecting cancer by measuring chromatin fractal dimension. The document provides examples of fractals throughout nature, science, and technology.

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ARUPARNA MAITY
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31 views

Theme: Science Society and Environment

This document discusses fractals and their applications. It defines fractals as self-similar patterns that repeat themselves at different scales. Common examples given include trees, coastlines, and Romanesco broccoli. The document outlines different types of fractals such as linear and non-linear. It also discusses fractal dimensions and how they are used to measure complexity. Many natural phenomena and structures exhibit fractal properties, including lungs, blood vessels, DNA, proteins, polymers, weather patterns, and chemical reactions. Fractals have applications in data compression, modeling economic markets, and detecting cancer by measuring chromatin fractal dimension. The document provides examples of fractals throughout nature, science, and technology.

Uploaded by

ARUPARNA MAITY
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Theme : science

society and
environment

Subtheme: mathematics
and everyday life
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Fractal
theory

W hat are Fractals ?????


In the most generalized terms, a fractal

demonstrates a limit.
Fractals model complex physical processes and

dynamical systems.

The underlying principle of fractals is that a


simple process that goes through infinitely many
iterations becomes a very complex process.

Fractals attempt to model the complex process by

searching for the simple process underneath.

Fractals follow the principle of CHAOS THEORY


Fractal Dimensions are used to measure the

complexity of objects.
Afractalis a mathematicalsetthat has afractal
dimensionthat usually exceeds its topological
dimension and may fall between theintegers.
Fractals are typicallyself-similar patterns,

whereself-similarmeans they are "the same from


near as from far".

Types ofFractal
Linear Fractals:

Linear fractals or "classical" fractals are exactly self-similar.


It looksexactlylike the original fractal, only smaller

Non-linear Fractals:-

Non-linear fractals exhibit a self-similar structure, but are not


exactly self-similar.

The overall appearance of a non-linear fractalcloselyresembles


some of its smaller parts but always with some variation.

D if e
frent types of fractalpatterns

FractalG eom etry


Fractal geometry is the study of shapes made up of smaller

repeating patterns. These patterns repeat themselves


through the use ofself-similarity. A tree exhibits a similar
structure at different levels of magnification. A close
examination of the veins of a leaf reveals a branching
pattern similar to the whole tree.
Fractal geometry has a large variety of self-similar shapes.

Some of these shapes are found in nature: trees, ferns and


mountains. Other shapes are created purely from numerical
formulas. We use mathematical equations to generate both
kinds of fractals. These fractals are generally classified as
"linear" or "nonlinear".

Applications offractals
It is present in various parts of our body:-

In the Respiratory system: the splitting of the


pulmonary system inside our body is

Trachea

Bronchi

Bronchioles

Alveoli

This splitting represents a fractal canopie. The endpoints of pulmonary


tubes, the alveoli are extremely close to each other; this property of
end points being interconnected is another property of fractals.

Alveoli: Measurements of the alveolar

area, which was found to be 80 m2with


light microscope is found to be 140 m2at
higher magnification with electron
microscope. From thegeometric method
we know that the increase in size with
magnification is one of the properties of
fractals!

Blood vessels:-Similarly to bronchial tubes, splitting can


also be found in blood vessels.
Thus it can also be called a fractal canopie.

Brain :-The surface of the brain contain a large number of


folds. Geometrically, the increase in folding means the increase
in surface area . Instead of 2, which is the dimension of a
smooth surface, the surface of a brain has a dimension greater
than 2

Other Membranes:
The surface folding similar to that of a brain was found in

many other surfaces, such as t on mitochondria and the


endoplasmic reticulum.
The same kind of folding was found in the nasal

membrane.
Thus they can also be called as fractal.
The fractal dimension of some anatomical structures are
given below. Note that all dimensions are greater than
you would expect them to be, and most are fractions,
which automatically implies that the structures are
fractal.

3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0

Series 3

T). One of the fractal patterns that were studied was in the sequence of nucleotides in what is called the DNA walk. TheDNA w

In addition toanatomical structures, fractals were found


in living organisms on even smaller scales in molecules.
DNA: DNA

is a long sequence of nucleotides that code all the genetic


information about us. The nucleotides can be either adenine,
guanine, cytosine, or thymine (abbreviated A, G, C, and T).
One of the fractal patterns that were studied was in the
sequence of nucleotides in what is called the DNA walk.

The DNA walkis a graphical representation of the DNA

sequence in which you move up if you hit C or T and down if you


hit A or G. For example, for the sequence CATG you will get the
following picture:

Fractal patterns were found in many DNA walks.


These pattern are remarkably similar toBrownian
motion. The fractal below is a model of a fractal
DNA walk:

Chromatin
Scientists have found ways to measure
theFractal dimension of chromatin.

Interestingly, experiments performed a couple of

years ago at the Mount Sinai research center in


New York showed that the fractal dimension of
chromatin might be somehow connected with
cancer.

Current experiments are attempting to detect

breast cancer by measuring the fractal dimension.

DATA COMPRESSION: The compression format in widest use today is the JPEG(Joint
Photographic Experts Group).

With JPEG compression, the data is put

into a grid.
The information contained in the original image is simplified using a
mathematical formula z=z2+c
But this succeeds to a compressed but lower quality image.
However, with fractal image compression, much higher compression
ratios can be achieved with much less deterioration of quality.
The idea behind fractal compression is that a small part of a
structure in an image can be used to represent the image as a whole.
Because of the way the data is stored in a fractally compressed file,
the file can be decompressed to a higher or lower resolution than the
original picture.

Also, fractal compression has potential applications


in compression of images for videos, allowing more
video to be stored on one CD-ROM.
Fractal compression has been called the "cold fusion of
compression" because of the high compression ratios that
can be achieved.
But if the computers are fast enough to encode and
decode the data it will be much more suitable.

Polymers and Protiens:

Polymers are made up of number of small units called


monomers.

These monomers are not connected in a straight line rather


they are connected in certain that can be different and the
entire molecule can twist into pretty complicated shapes.

Also,

Proteins are made up of amino acids bonding together in a


chain

Twisting, as well as folding and breaking often implies by itself


that the shape is fractal. Proteins and many other polymers are,

1.75
1.7
1.65
1.6
1.55
1.5
Column1

Spectrum: Shortly after the discovery of fractals, Harter found

spectra of some molecules that remarkably


resembled theCantor Set.
The picture below if a simulation of a spectrum that is
perfectly fractal:

Weather:Weather behaves very unpredictably. We can


say that the weather behaves very
chaotically. So it can also be called a fractal.

Indeed, weather can create fractal patterns.


This was discovered by Edward Lorenz, who was

mathematically studying the weather patterns.


Lorenz came up with three formulas that could
model the changes of the weather.
When these formulas are used to create a 3D
strange attractor, they form the famous
Lorenz Attractor:

Chemical Reactions:The rates of chemical reactions become


different for a short interval of time and the
composition of the system changes.
As we might guess, these changes would be
very chaotic.
So they can also be called as fractals.
If we view every three consecutive
concentrations of a substance as coordinates
of a point in space... we can get something
that is fractal in shape! Such fractal would be
astrange attractor because we know that
this is the type of fractals based on changing
numbers.

Indeed, fractal shapes were found after graphing

many different systems. Even such common ones


as hydrogen and oxygen reacting to make water.
One of the scientists who tried to study this
mathematically was Otto Rossler.
He came up with three formulae that could
model chemical reactions.

When these three formulae are used to create a

strange attractor, they create the famous 3dimensionalRossler Attractor:

In Economics
Recently, Benoit Mandelbrot introduced a new fractal
theory that can be used much more efficiently than
the Portfolio Theory to analyze the market.

Portfolio Theory:
According to this theory, the probability of various
changes of the market can be shown using the
standard bell curve:

If we take one of the months and graph it in a more detailed way with

every week shown, we will get a very similar line with some rises and
falls.
If we make it more and more detailed by showing every day, every

hour, and even every minute or second we will still get the same, only
smaller, rises and falls. There is our Brownian self-similarity.
Mandelbrot came up with a method of creating fractals that fit the

above description.
He based in on simplegenerator iterationand createdbase-motif

fractalsthat could model the market.


The comparison of the portfolio theory model and the substituted
model of fractals is shown in the following slide:-

First we take a generator containing both rise and falls

Then take this exact picture and substitute every line segment
with it

Continuing to substitute we get something looking like this

Now, we compare it to a Portfolio Theory model:

H ow to m ake a FractalCard???
Step 1: Take a rectangular white ivory sheet with dimensions
24x11 inches.

Step 2: Draw lines on both sides at a distance of inches.


Leave 1 inch as a border.
Step 3: Draw diagram of the design of fractal card we are willing
to represent. Draw the lines darker than the previous ones.

Step 4: According to the diagram, cut the vertical lines. Use a


cutter to cut the lines.

Step 5: Draw crease on horizontal lines according to


the diagram. Use a scale and an empty refill of gel
pen to draw creases.

Step 6: Fold along the creases properly. Wrinkles


should not be there on the card.

Step 7: Similarly, complete other folds according to


the diagram .

Step 8: Take a box board sheet. Cut to squares of 13 inches. Box board
sheet should be very hard.

Step 9: Take a black pastel sheet. Cut a rectangle of dimensions of 26x13


inches.

Step 10: Paste the black rectangular sheet (26x13) on the two square
sheets (13). Keep the two square sheets adjacent to one another, so
that they are joined together through the black sheet. This becomes a
folder.
Step 11: Paste the final fractal card on this folder.The final Fractal Card
looks like..This is really a beautiful fractal card.

Unique exhibits ofthe m odel


The cost incurred to make a 3-d fractal card is a mere amount of 10 to 12
rupees.

Innovative:
This fractal model can be further used to make big structures like buildings ,
multi-storeyed apartments, malls ,flats , etc. specially based on the fractal
theory . Better designed stadiums, auditoriums, bridges can also be
constructed on the fractal theory .

Apart from implications on fields of engineering , further development on


fractals can be used in diagnostic purposes.
Therefore fractals have proved very significant role in our day to day lives and it
is must that this branch of mathematics will help us step on to the coming
future .

Physicists, chemists, mathematicians, biologists, computer


scientists, and medical researchers are just a few of the scientists
that have found uses for fractals and fractal geometry.
Ecologists have found fractal geometry to be an extremely useful tool
for describing ecological systems. Many ecologists use fractal
geometry as a tool to help define and explain the systems in the
world around us. As with any scientific field, there has been some
dissension in ecology about the appropriate level of study.

Using fractal dimensions allows ecologists to map animal pathways


without creating an unmanageable deluge of information. Computer
simulations of landscapes provide useful models for gaining new
insights into the coexistence of species. The fractal theory also plays
a silent role in nanotechnology.

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