What Does tessellation Mean
In order to fully understand the meaning of the term tessellation, it is necessary, first of all, to discover its etymological origin. In this case, it comes from the Latin "tesella", which can be translated as "tile", and this in turn from the Greek word "tessares", which is synonymous with "four".
The concept of tessellation is not part of the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ). The term that does appear is tessellated , referring to what is made up of tiles . The tesserae , in turn, are the different fragments that are part of a mosaic (a work that is made up of different pieces or pieces).
Tessellation is called, in this way, the pattern that is followed when covering a surface . Tessellation requires avoiding overlapping figures and ensuring that no blank spaces are recorded in the overlay.
For the development of tessellation, the usual thing is that reproductions of one or more tiles are made until the entire surface is covered . It is important to note that irregular, semi-regular or regular tessellations can be performed.
The irregular tessellations are composed of polygons that are not regular. The semiregular tessellations , meanwhile, have to the least two regular polygons, while regular tessellations are developed with regular hexagons, equilateral triangles or squares (using a single type).
In addition to these three types of exposed tessellations, the existence of a fourth type must also be noted. We are referring to the so-called demi-regular tessellations. Under this denomination are the tessellations that are semi-regular and that are formed from what is the set of eight semi-regular tessellations and three regular cut tessellations. Thus, a total of fourteen demi-regular tessellations are formed.
There are examples of tessellations all over the world. The tessellation of Cairo is known as the tessellation composed of a pentagon with four sides of identical measure and a sum of the angles of 540º (two of 108º, two of 90º and one of 144º).
Another popular type of tessellation is the Penrose tessellation , named after the British mathematician Roger Penrose . These tessellations are aperiodic (they do not have translational symmetry): two have rotational symmetry of order five and axis of symmetry.
Many are the artists who, throughout their careers, have opted for tessellation as a key element for the development of their works. However, among the most significant is the Dutch Maurits Cornelis Escher, artistically known as MC Escher. This became a reference at the time because it resorted to tessellation to combine it with the plane and create all kinds of shapes, such as animals of various kinds, including fish and birds.