Wheel of Theodorus Extra Credit Art Project

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Create a Wheel of Theodorus neatly and in color.  Mark the unit measures of all of your triangles sides.  Feel free to decorate your wheel in a way that demonstrates this spiral in the real world (it's out there)!  Attach a lined sheet of paper with your calculations for the first 8 triangles.

Instructions

  1. Create an isosceles right triangle of a particular unit length of your choosing (too big or too small will make this very difficult, so try to plan ahead).
  2. Add another unit length and right angle to the hypotenuse of your original right triangle.
  3. Make a right triangle out of the new unit length and previous hypotenuse.
  4. Keep adding new unit lengths to the previous hypotenuse at right angles to build new right triangles.
  5. When you get to the stage where your right triangles will overlap previous right triangles, draw your hypotenuse toward the center of the spiral but do not mark over previous drawings.
  6. Remember to label your figure with all of the dimensions of your successive right triangles.  If a hypotenuse has a length that is a rational number, demonstrate that you recognize this fact.  For example, since sqrt(4)=2, show this on your project.
Grading
  • Include a title for your picture
  • On the front of your picture, include your signature and the date.
  • Label all triangle legs and hypotenuses with appropriate lengths.
  • Conjoin each new triangle with the hypotenuse of the previous right triangle.  
  • Make sure your project is neat!
  • Use color unless you mean to emphasize contrast by using white and black.
  • Write your labels using simplified radicals unless they can be simplified to rational numbers.  For example, you might label a hypotenuse sqrt(9)=3.
  • Attach a lined sheet of paper to your art containing your calculations to find the lengths of segments using the Pythagorean Theorem for your first 8 triangles.
This guy has a pretty good method!

Be warned!  I have spent a good amount of time looking at these online.  If you copy a project from online, you will not only receive no extra credit, but you will be penalized for your devious plot.  Be original, be creative, be like Frankie - do it your way.  

This project must be submitted by Friday, 1/27/2017, by the end of the day.

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