By - Swastika Deb
So what are fractals? A fractal is a never-ending pattern. They are created by repeating a similar process over and over again till infinity. They are recursive patterns that go on forever and regardless you zoom in or zoom out it looks the same as the original image.
You can call the components ‘similar’ to the original image at any scale.
Fractals in nature
A very simple example is that of the branches of the trees. It is seen in the trees when it grows their limbs. The trunk is the main starting point of the fractal. The trunk branches into components and those components give rise to twigs which again give rise to smaller twigs. Now, these twigs will grow into bigger branches and this cycle goes on forever. Each twig resembles a smaller scale version of the whole shape.
Fractals in the human body
So even in the human body, we can find traces of fractal. Just like a tree, the lung branches out into two bronchi and which further branches into primary, secondary, and tertiary bronchi which further branches into bronchioles. A similar sight can be noticed in the circulatory system as well. So the overall complexity of the shape depends on how each iteration is detailed. The fractal expands in all directions making the structure look complex and fascinating! You can find fractals in lightning too, which shows how electricity passes through air and the pattern it follows. Other examples are mountains, crystals, snowflakes etc.
Fractals in computers
This field is extremely vast and amazing. If we look around for fractals in our daily lives, a point will come when the smallest particle of the matter will remain which no longer can be scaled down. But computers have given this area a new sphere in which we can study fractals at an incredibly deep level and explore the mathematical equations in a detailed manner.The exploration of Fractals within computers started in the 1960s when Beniot Mandelbrot worked at computing giant IBM. The massive computing power was made available because of his employment which allowed him to study fractal in a very detailed manner and there was the most iconic fractal after his name “The Mandelbrot set”!
Fractals is an extremely deep and detailed area in which there is complexity but which comes with simplicity. Fractal geometry has got a lot of applications in statistical mechanics and plotting the galaxy structures throughout the universe.
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