Jump to content

User:Acrompton1/sandbox

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Penrose Tennis Ball

[edit]
Cutting patterns for three type of patch used to make tennis balls, left: oval, centre: Penrose, right waisted. The Penrose shape uses less fabric.
Penrose Tennis Ball, (left), compared to ordinary type, (right).

The Penrose Tennis Ball is a novel design created around 1995 by British physicist Sir Roger Penrose. It is made of two pieces of cloth that together cover a sphere shaped to that they also tile the plane as closely as possible, thus wasting the minimum amount of fabric. The problem that Penrose solved, as well as may be possible, was how to tile the plane with a piece that could also flex to tile a sphere.  The pattern of lines is more dynamic than on an ordinary tennis ball.  It was promoted by Pentaplex Ltd, of Brighouse, Yorkshire, who also marketed jigsaws based on Penrose tilings. Prototypes made by Slazenger were found to perform as normal balls in play, but savings on fabric were insufficient to justify retooling for manufacture. Only one Penrose tennis ball, shown here, is known to have survived.

List of things named after Roger Penrose

References

[edit]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/50241745@N05/8187808503

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/02637761/officers[1]

  1. ^ "PENTAPLEX LIMITED people - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 2025-06-30.