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 .