On
investigating all the letters of the English alphabet for
symmetry you may find:
-
letter symmetry often depends on the font you use
- some letters have no lines of symmetry
- some letters have one line of symmetry
- some letters have two lines of symmetry
- one letter has many lines of symmetry
- most letters do not have rotational symmetry
- a few have rotational symmetry of order two
- and O is in a category of its own.
Letters |
Line
Symmetry | Number |
Rotational
Symmetry | Number |
|
No |
0 |
Yes |
2 |
|
No |
0 |
Yes |
2 |
|
Yes |
2 |
Yes |
2 |
|
|
Yes |
1 |
No |
0 |
|
No |
0 |
Yes |
2 |
|
Yes |
1 |
No |
0 |
|
Yes | Infinite | Yes | Infinite |
As
far as X goes you will find you need to argue a lot about
whether it has 2 lines of symmetry or 4.
The best way to stop the arguments is to do an investigation.
Type several Xs using different computer fonts, enlarged
them on a photocopier (or by typing a number larger than
72 in the size field), then cut them out and fold them.
What do you think you will find?
Go on, test it. You know you want to :)
|