fractal
7
8.8
- noun
- /ˈfræk.təl/
- Specialized
:
fractal
- In nature, we can see fractals in the branching of trees and the shapes of coastlines.
- represent fractals
- family of fractals
- set of fractals
Do you know how the research into fractals began?
- Do you know how the research into fractals began?
- You can't be welcomed in the cosmos unless you know that you are a fractal of a larger pattern.
- And so you can discover what region of this global fractal you might be embedded in from first principles.
- So the Fibonacci sequence, which is now we find in almost all life is actually part of fractals.
- And since it's replicating like a fractal, if I understand one part, I will understand the whole.
- and what we're going to find is the next fractal
- So we're experiencing lots of different fractals, flavors, identities of life experience.
- How do we connect snowflakes, fractals, the brain, computer, what, where, where's this all start?
- Today I will show you a different type of numbers, OK, that have these very special zero that looks like a fractal, OK.
Examples
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The artist's painting features a stunning fractal design that repeats a vibrant pattern throughout.
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The answer is the fractal dimension, which quantifies a fractal's complexity.
Academic text (2005) -
The front panel has that fractal inspired design.
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This pattern, it's a fractal.
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Do you know how the research into fractals began?
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And since it's replicating like a fractal, if I understand one part, I will understand the whole.
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The two families are interesting because most of the fractals in the literature can be represented by means of them.
Academic text (1997) -
Over the past decade, scientists have come to view fractals as particular instances within the larger field of complexity theory.
Fiction book (1999) -
We begin the process of measuring the fractal by using progressively smaller rulers as outlined above.
Academic text (2005) -
Ellie turns to watch the screens as the fractals continue to coalesce.
Fiction book (1997)
Synonyms
1
7.5
A repeating shape that looks the same at different sizes, like fern leaves or coastlines
Compounds
- Specialized
1
7.5
A repeating shape that looks the same at different sizes, like fern leaves or coastlines
- Specialized
A part of mathematics that studies patterns that repeat at different sizes
How Complex
Surface Forms
Morphology
fractal = fract + al
Although built from the combining form 'fract-' + the adjectival suffix '-al', the specialized mathematical sense 'self-similar complex shape' is not directly inferable by an average B1 learner from the components.
Etymology
Fractal comes from the Latin fractus, meaning 'broken'. Think of a fractal as a broken shape made of the same smaller broken parts again and again, so it keeps the same pattern at different sizes.