Olympic Rings

from nrich.maths.org/7551

Five coloured interlocking rings have been the symbol of the Olympics for over a hundred years.

 



What colours can you see?

Have a look at the way they interlock. How would you describe the picture?
 

Other shapes can be linked in a similar way.

Have a go at linking five squares. You might like to use this interactivity to experiment with linking the squares together.

You can drag squares around with the mouse, and click on overlaps to toggle which of the lines should be in front/on top.

There are control buttons to let you rotate each of the five squares clockwise or anticlockwise.

You can press tab to move between controls and overlaps.

You can press space to toggle an overlap, if an overlap is selected, or use the 'rotate clockwise' button if rotation controls are selected.

You can press the control button to use the rotate anticlockwise button if rotation controls are selected.

You can press the arrow buttons to move a square around if rotation controls are selected.

Once you've linked the squares together, have a go at using some physical resources to make your design in real life. What do you notice about your design?