All about the curves
Curves created by the Octopus Ride at Chessington
World of Adventures fuelled the imagination of Sixth
Form maths student Nina del Ser.
Travelling in her mind into space, she plotted glorious
curves inspired by the motion of moons circling planets
circling the sun – then featured them in an IB Extended
Essay that significantly boosted her grades.
In What Curves are Generated by the Octopus Ride?
Nina explains how to plot paths travelled over time by
an Octopus Ride seat, then compares them with paths
carved out in space by orbiting moons and planets.
To help her prepare for university (or a career in
astronomy) the Sevenoaks IB programme freed Nina to
come up with an original concept and explore it at will.
Who says mathematics isn’t creative?
Nina’s principal aim: to better understand curves generated by
the Octopus Ride seats, eg by predicting their rotational symmetry
based on information about rotors and rotor speeds. Throughout the
investigation, illustrations of curves generated were used to gain a
better intuitive understanding and test any hypotheses reached.