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MOBIUS STRIP |
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The Möbius strip is sheet of rectangular strip which is given a half-twist with its ends attached. It has only one edge and only one surface. It was invented by Augustus Ferdinand Möbius (1790-1868), a German astronomer and mathematician in 1858. The strip was also independently found by Johann Benedict Listing at about the same time. The Möbius strip has found its use commercially. In fact, a conveyor belt based on the Möbius strip has been patented by B. F. Goodyear Co. This belt is claimed to lasts longer since the useful surface of the strip is doubled. The Möbius strip has the mathematical property of being non-orientable. A Möbius strip can easily be created by taking a paper strip and giving it a half-twist, and then joining the ends of the strip together to form a single band. There are two types of Möbius strips classified according on the direction of the half-twist: clockwise and counterclockwise. The Möbius strip is therefore chiral, which is to say that it is "handed".
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