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Fashion Fridays: Math Reflected Translations


Oh man! It looks like our math teacher has become a true scientist and mastered the ability to clone herself! Either that, or she's just changing personalities as she's sliding down the chairs, (and some of them aren't very nice!) Translation: Mean Girls! LOL. No, there aren't really five impeccably dressed mathematics educators playing musical chairs; just one chic, shy, bored, rude, floored fashionista translating across them all.

A quick look in the mirror before you leave your house for the day holds a secret that you can unlock through the great mystery of math. Your reflection in the mirror is simple flip of an image over the line of reflection. Everything that you see is a reflection of light bouncing into your eyes. Reflection is everywhere!

You may look at this picture and think you are seeing double. And you’re right! Looking a little closer, this picture exhibits so many forms of reflection than a double image. Thanks to reflection, you are actually seeing quadruple! The very design on this Chiara Boni LA Petite Robe Color block Jersey Sheath Dress allows you to see how reflection works as the design is flipped on the mirror image at the line of reflection. You can find this dress here. Reflection is very common in all things fashion; not just my dress! Beautiful patterns on fabrics often show reflections in the design. Fashion designers need to have a good grasp on the concept of reflection to create amazing masterpieces that we all can enjoy! Who says you can’t find math in fashion? The concept of reflection in this image is simply mesmerizing.

Translation is a term used in geometry, describing how an object changes location without changing size or direction.

Imagine kicking a soccer ball back and forth with your dad. There’s only one ball and it maintains its size and shape the entire time. When you kick the ball, it travels from the point where you’re standing in the yard in the direction of your father stopping against his foot, until he kicks it back. As the ball glides across the yard, that’s translation.

Have you ever been on the monorail at an airport? All the passengers pile into the train and it travels back and forth between two terminals. There’s only one cabin-car per track, it never changes size or shape, and it only travels in one direction before stopping. Inside the monorail, you are being translated between terminals. Translation: Very Cool!

The image of the teacher above is a translated "like" image. Because Dr. Jones is arranged in different positions, but she is not identical, she is not truly being translated. In translation, the shape of an object or image:

  • Doesn't rotate

  • Doesn't resize

  • Doesn't reflect

AND every point of the shape:

  • Must move the same distance

  • Must move in the same direction

Just remember, in geometry, translation simply means…MOVING

Photographer: @jaxonphotogroup http://www.jaxonphotogroup.com

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