Akshay Grewal

Mr. Kelly: G–Block

January 17, 2011

Semi-Regular Tessellations
Tessellations are characterized as a sequence of polygons that are attached to one
another again and again and can cover a plane without any gaps or holes. A vertex
a tessellation is where one corner from each shape in the tessellation meet. The
angles of the corners of the polygons in any tessellation must add up to 360o. Thus,
to prove that there are only 8 semi-regular tessellations (tessellations that are
composed of more than 1 polygon) we must find all the possible vertex of polygons
that can add up to 360o.

The table below shows the sums of each angle is different polygons. Each number is
derived from the equation [(X-2)*180] ÷ X = Y in which X is the number of sides the
polygon has and Y is the measure of angle of each corner in that polygon.

Y 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
X 60o 90o 108o 120o 128.5 135o 140o 144o 147.2
7o 7o

Y 12 13 14 15
X 150o 152.3 154.2 156o
1o 9o

Note: The reason why the table stops at a 15-gon is because the angle is very close to 180o
and if a polygon with a larger number of sides is needed then it will be calculated at that
time. The reason why the table starts with a 3-gon is because it is not possible to have a
polygon with only two sides.

There is a certain limit to the number of polygons a tessellation can have. The
smallest number of polygons that a tessellation could have is 3. There cannot be a
tessellation containing only 2 polygons for one major reason. If a tessellation did
contain only 2 polygons then the sum of the angles at a corner of each polygon
would have to be 180o or higher. However it is not possible to have a polygon that
meets this requirement. If we use the equation shown in the table, we can see why.
On the left side of the equation we see [(X-2)*180] ÷ X which essentially means that
the number of sides the polygon has is subtracted by two, divided by itself and then
multiplied by 180. Any number that is subtracted by two and then divided by itself
will be less than 1. However for the equation to equal 180, that number must be
equal to 1 which is not possible. The largest number of polygons that a tessellation
could have is 6. As seen above the smallest possible angle for a corner is 60o which
is a triangle. This means that for the tessellation to have the most possible
polygons, all the shapes would have to be equal to 60o. Since each vertex in a
tessellation is equal to 360o the greatest number of polygons a tessellation could
have is
360 ÷ 60 or 6 shapes.

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6 Polygons: There is only one possible tessellation that involves 6 polygons. This
tessellation has 6 triangles, 3.3.3.3.3.3. There are no other possible tessellations in
this category, because to change one of the triangles to another polygon with a
different angle measure, you would have to either increase or decrease it. If you
increase one of the angle measures, you would have to decrease the other to keep
the sum equal to 360o and vice versa. As seen in the table above, there is no
polygon that has angle measure less than 60o so it would be impossible to change
the set in anyway.

5 Polygons: To calculate the possible tessellations for 5 polygons we will use

modifications of the possibility that we found for 6. First, if we combine two of the
angle measures and form one new angle measure to bring the total shapes down
from 6 to 5 and changing the sum of the angles of the vertex to
120+60+60+60+60 from 60+60+60+60+60+60. According to the table on page 1
a hexagon (or 6-gon) has an angle measure of 120 so we can create one possible
tessellation as 6.3.3.3.3. Next, we will combine 3 of the angle measures and replace
it with two. When the three angle measures are combined we get the equation
180+60+60+60 in which we must find two polygons whose angle measures add to
180o. Upon looking at the table on the previous page we see that only the addition
of two squares could create this angle measure, creating another possibility of
4.4.3.3.3. This vertex could also appear in another potential tessellation. If we were
to rearrange the numbers so that the two squares (or 4-gons) where not next to one
another we would have a separate tessellation, 4.3.4.3.3. Next, we will combine 4 of
the angle measures and replace it with three. This gives us no tessellations. If you
combine the angles you get the equation 240 + 60 + 60. Now looking at the table if
we say that the first polygon we add in is a triangle, we would just be replacing a
triangle with another triangle. So we see what would happen if we first put in a
square. If a square was put in, the resulting equation would be 150 + 90 + 60 + 60.
The only way in which we can separate 150 into two polygons according to the table
is with another square and triangle, which does not give us a new tessellation. Now
if we say that the first polygon is a pentagon, then we get the equation 132 + 108 +
60 + 60. If we again used a square for the first polygon in the 132 we get a
remainder of 42 which is below the lowest possible measure. This means that no
shape with a measure higher than a pentagon will be able to be the first figure in
the new tessellation. Next we will combine 5 to and add 4. The equation this gives
us is 300 + 60. If we say that the first polygon is a square we get the equation 210
+ 90 +60. As we saw in the previous step, the number 240 doesn’t work to
anything below would not work as well. Lastly, we will see if there is a tessellation
with all the 5 polygons being the same. To do this we must divide 360 by 5 to get
an angle measure of 72 for each polygon which according to the table is not
possible.

4 Polygons: To calculate the possible tessellations for 4 polygons we first look at if

there is a possibility if all the polygons are the same. By dividing 360 by 4 we get a
90 degree angle sum for each figure which according to the table is possible. This
gives us another possible tessellation of 4.4.4.4. Since a square is the only polygon
that can be repeated 4 times we will look at all the other polygons by removing the
first three squares. We start by changing the first three polygons to triangles to give
the equation 60 + 60 + 60 + 180. Since no polygon has angle measures of 180, this
tessellation is not possible. Next we will only change the first two to a triangle and

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leave the third as a square giving the equation 60 + 60 + 90 + 150. This gives us
the possibility of the 4th polygon being a pentagon. Two tessellations arise from this
both 3.3.4.12 and 3.4.3.12 (produced by separating the two 3’s). There is no other
polygon that has an angle measure of 150 so we move to the next tessellation
group of changing the second polygon to a square as well giving us 60 + 90 + 90 +
120. This again gives us two possible tessellations of 3.4.4.6 and 3.4.6.4 (produced
by separating the two 4’s). No other polygon has angle measures of 120 so we
move on to the next group of replacing the two squares with a triangle and a
hexagon. This gives us the equation 60 + 60 +120 +120 which can create the two
tessellations 3.3.6.6 or 3.6.3.6 (by separating 3’s and 6’s). If we replaced another
triangle with a hexagon then we would get the equation 60 + 120 + 120 + 120.
Which adds up to 420 and is not a plausible tessellation because it exceeds 360.
Any number greater than 120 would also exceed 360 as seen in the previous steps.
Now that we have moved out of triangles we must set the square as the first
polygon. However this brings us back to where we started with all the polygons
being squares. So without decreasing any of the numbers below 90o we cannot have
any other possible tessellations.

3 Polygons: To calculate possible tessellations for 3 polygons we first look at if

there is a possibility if all the polygons are the same. By dividing 360 by 3 we get a
120 degree angle sum for each figure which according to the table on page 1 is
possible. This gives us the first possible tessellation with three polygons, 6.6.6.
Next, we first replace the first two polygons with triangles again giving us the
equation 60 + 60 + 240 which has no possible polygon as you can see by plugging
it in to the equation on page one. Next we move to the possibility of one triangle
and one square which gives us the equation 60 + 90 +210. If you plug this into the
equation, you find that it is not possible to have this arrangement. Now we will
change the second polygon to 108. This will give us the equation 60 + 108 + 192.
We can plug 192 into the equation on page 1 and conclude that there is no possible
polygon that fits that description. So, we move on to one triangle and that gives us
60 + 120 + 180. Moving on, we go to one triangle and one 7-gon which gives us the
equation 60 + 128.57 + 171.43 which can be plug into the equation and found out
to be the angle measure of a 43-gon and get the tessellation 3.7.43. Next we will
have the possibility of one triangle and one 8-gone. The equation we get is 60 +
135 + 165. If you plug 165 into the equation you get the angle measure of a 24-gon
telling us that another tessellation is 3.8.24. Next we move on to one triangle and
one 9-gone in which you get the equation 60 + 140 + 160. If you plug it into the
equation, you find that 160 is the angle measure of an 18-gon. This gives us
another possible tessellation of 3.9.18. Next we have a triangle and a 10-gon which
gives the equation 60 + 144 + 156. According to the table, a 15-gon has a 156
angle measure giving us another tessellation of 3.10.15. Moving on, we have a
triangle and an 11-gon giving us the equation 60 + 147.27 + 152.73. However upon
plugging in 152.73 in the equation on page 1, you do not get an even number –gon
meaning there is no possible polygon. Next we will move on to a triangle and a 12-
gon. This gives us the equation 60 + 150 + 150. According to the table 150 is the
angle measure of a 12-gon so we get another tessellation 3.12.12. Now we move on
to a triangle and a 13 gon. The equation is 60 + 152.31 + 147.69. This angle
measure doesn’t work but we also see that the third number is now less than the
second. This means that the second polygon that we will find from now on will
always be larger than the polygon that we calculate. Now we have found all the 3-

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shape tessellations beginning with triangles because from now on we will just find
repeats. With triangles done we move on to squares were we will start with two
squares. We do not use triangles because we have completed all the tessellations
with triangles. The equation is now 90 + 90 + 180. Clearly this is not a tessellation
because no polygon has an angle measure of 180. Next we have a square and a
pentagon in which we get the equation 90 + 108 + 252. Using the equation on page
1 we can see that this gives us the tessellation 4.5.20. Then we move on to a
square and hexagon with the equation 90 + 120 + 150. This gives us the
tessellation 4.6.12 after looking at the table. Next we will move on to a square and
a 7-gon in which we have the equation 90 + 128.57 + 141.43. This however is not a
polygon after plugging it into the equation. So, we move up to a square and an 8-
gon. This gives the equation 90 + 135 + 135 which gives us the tessellation 4.8.8.
As we saw when we did the triangles after the last to polygons are the same then
the tessellations will start repeating themselves so we have finished the squares. No
we move on to having the pentagon first. The first equation we have is with two
pentagons. The equation is 108 + 108 + 144. According to the table this gives us
the tessellation 5.5.10. Next we have a pentagon and a hexagon which gives the
equation 108 + 120 + 60 which we have already done. As you can see they are
already repeating themselves. Now we move onto hexagons but if we set that as
the limit for the first down, there is no way in which we could increase one, because
we need to reduce the other which we cannot because each angle is already equal.

In conclusion all there are 21 plausible tessellations: 3.3.3.3.3.3; 3.3.3.3.6;

3.3.3.4.4; 3.3.4.3.4; 3.3.4.12; 3.4.3.12; 3.3.6.6; 3.6.3.6; 3.4.4.6; 3.4.6.4; 4.4.4.4;
3.7.43; 3.8.24; 3.9.18; 3.10.15; 3.12.12; 4.5.20; 4.6.12; 4.8.8; 5.5.10; 6.6.6.

Now we must show which tessellations are semi-regular and that all the other
plausible tessellations we found, do not create actual, working tessellations. Some
of the vertices we found on page 3 do not actually make tessellations. The definition
of a semi-regular tessellations it that involves at least two different shapes at each
vertex. This means that all the vertices that have only one shape in them cannot be
a semi-regular tessellation (those are called regular tessellations). So we can
eliminate 3.3.3.3.3.3; 4.4.4.4; and 6.6.6 from the list on page three. Next we move
on to what tessellations are semi-regular so we can find all the vertices that we
have to show cannot create a vertex. We have proven in class that all the semi-
regular tessellations are 3.3.3.4.4; 3.3.4.3.4; 3.3.3.3.6; 3.4.6.4; 3.6.3.6; 4.8.8;
4.6.12; and 3.12.12 so we can eliminate them from the list as well. This leaves us
with 10 vertices to show cannot become tessellations: 3.3.4.12; 3.4.3.12; 3.3.6.6;
3.7.43; 3.8.24; 3.9.18; 3.10.15; 4.5.20; and 5.5.10. In the several following
paragraphs we will see the tessellations drawn out to the point where they overlap
or “stop – working” then the diagram will be explained.

3.3.4.12:

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The red shape above represents the initial vertices we started off with. As we began
to expand the tessellations, we added the blue figure above and to angle of the red
one. Now, to further expand this tessellation we would have to add another figure to
the area the arrow indicates. However, if you look at the beginning picture, there is
no area that extends outward as shown in the depression were the arrow is. In other
words, no point on the original red figure can fit into the indicated area. This means
that the tessellation cannot work.

*Note: Please continue on to the next page, as the image was too large to fit in the
remainder of this page*

3.4.3.12:

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This example is very similar to the previous example on page 4. We began with the
red figure and added in the blue figure above and at an angle to the original. To
proceed we must add another figure to where the arrow indicates. However if you
look at the original figure, there is no part that extends outwards and can fit into the
indicated area.

3.3.6.6:

In this figure, we began with the red vertex and added a blue one below it to begin
expanding it. Then, we added a green figure to the right side of the blue one. To
continue the tessellation, we would have to add in another figure at the indicated
area. More specifically we would have to add the two triangles to that area.
However, if we did this, we would have to attach to hexagons below the triangles
that would in turn over lap the blue and green figure. This means that, there is no
tessellation possible.

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3.7.43:

The above figure is a bit confusing. The large red object seems to be a circle but it
is actually a 43-gon. The red shape shows the first, initial vertex we began with. The
blue shape shows the beginning of the next shape. This vertex can be shown to not
work in two ways. The first way is that to complete the blue vertex, we would have
to put another 43-gon next to the blue triangle. However, that area is already
occupied by the red 43-gon and the two would overlap destroying the tessellation.
Another way to show that it doesn’t work is because for the tessellation to continue,
a side of the 43-gon would have to fit into the indicated area, which clearly is not
possible.

3.8.24:

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This shape only involves one vertex to show why it doesn’t work. To continue this
tessellation we would have to add in another vertex in the indicated area. However
there is no possible way to do that. The only plausible shape to add there would be
a triangle. However if we add another 24-gon next to that triangle it would overlap
the original, meaning that it would not be possible.

3.9.18:

This explanation is very similar to the explanations on page 6. The arrow indicates a
narrow gap in the first vertex drawn. This area is can only be filled by the triangle of
the three figures. If the triangle is put there, the 18-gon that extends from it will
overlap the beginning one.

3.10.15:

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The same explanation is shown again in this example. The only shape that can fit in
the indicated area is a triangle, but when another 15-gon or 10-gon is attached to
that triangle it will overlap the initial ones.

4.5.20:

This vertex is not possible because the for the second shape that is drawn to fit the
20-gon, one of the shapes (the pentagon) changes orientation. The initial vertex is
shown in red and the second blue vertex was placed under it. As you can see, to fit
in the rest of the tessellation, the pentagon must be placed upside down. This
means that this is not possible.

5.5.10:

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In this vertex, the original vertex is overlapped by the green “diamond”. The
original picture began with the diamond colored in red. However when we added
the second vertex (blue) the two 10-gons overlapped in the green area. This means
that it is not possible to have this tessellation.

In conclusion the 8 semi-regular tessellations are 3.3.3.4.4; 3.3.4.3.4; 3.3.3.3.6;

3.4.6.4; 3.6.3.6; 4.8.8; 4.6.12; and 3.12.12.

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