2004 Team 3

FUN WITH FRACTALS

John Cobb, Eric Astor, Eugene Astrakan, Christine Boone, Dhruva Chandramohan, Alexandra Konings, Stephanie Mok, Scott Weingart, Benjamin Wieder, Matthew Zegarek

Advisor: Dr. Paul Victor Quinn, Sr.
Assistant: Karl Strohmaier

ABSTRACT

Fractals are mathematical structures that have some degree of self-similarity and scale independence. As well as being intrinsically interesting from a purely theoretical standpoint, fractals are useful in many arenas. This paper explores the use of fractals in diverse fields including the more theoretical Sierpinski fractals, Mandelbrot, and Julia sets and the more practical areas of modeling natural and physical systems. Ultimately, this knowledge of fractals is used to explore a model of a ball bouncing on an oscillating plate from a different point of view.