Symmetry in space

Symmetry in space is a beautiful, harmonious and balanced proportion of parts or elements of various forms of objects, organisms or objects. In the space around us, you can observe a lot of non-living objects in a symmetrical form. Living organisms, both protozoa and complex highly organized ones, also have symmetry elements in their structure.

The pursuit of excellence

A symmetrical form can be identified with perfection and harmony. It is not for nothing that such words as "symmetry" and "perfection" are synonymous in the languages of many peoples.

Symmetry in space is found everywhere. The variety of forms of plants and living organisms is striking in the proportionality, consistency and ergonomics of the form. Here everything is thought out to the smallest detail: amazing beauty, graceful proportions and nothing superfluous. Everything is provided for the best functionality of life.

Central symmetry

Central symmetry in the space of the surrounding world of inanimate nature is clearly visible in the arrangement of crystals. This kind of symmetry is well traced in the structure of snowflakes, which are ice crystals. Their forms are striking in variety. But they are all centrally symmetric.

Examples of central or radial symmetry are plant flowers: sunflower, chamomile, iris, aster. This kind of symmetry is also called rotary. If the petals of a flower or the rays of a snowflake are rotated relative to the center, then they are stacked on top of each other.

Mirror symmetry

Mirror symmetry in the space of the natural world around us is observed in plants and animals. A sheet of maple, oak or fern, a beetle or a butterfly, a spider or a caterpillar, a mouse or a hare are just some examples where one can see bilateral, or mirror symmetry, in living organisms. Symmetrical features of a person's face , as well as parts of the body: arms, legs. In these forms we observe, as it were, a mirror image of one half of the object from the other. If you arrange an object in a plane, then its image can be mentally bent in the middle, and one half is superimposed on the other.

The Symmetry Symmetry Hypothesis

In the scientific world, there are several hypotheses, with the help of which they try to explain how the symmetry in the space of our world arose. According to one of them, anything that grows up or down is subject to the law of radial-ray symmetry. And what is formed parallel to the earth's surface or under the slope to it, assumes a mirror-symmetrical form. These properties are attempted to explain by earthly attraction from the center of the planet and various degrees of illumination of objects by sunlight, depending on their location.

Symmetry in science and art

Symmetry in space has been appreciated by artists, sculptors and architects back in antiquity. We see elements of symmetry in ancient rock paintings, in ornamental adornments of ancient objects and weapons. Egyptian pyramids and Mayan pyramids, domes of Slavic cathedrals, Greek temples and palaces, ancient arches and amphitheatres, the facade of the White House and the Moscow Kremlin are just some examples of the desire for sublime beauty and true perfection.

The concepts of symmetry were seriously developed by mathematicians. The mathematical studies carried out made it possible to single out the main regularities of symmetry on the plane and in space. Physics and chemistry also did not ignore this interesting natural pattern. Academician VI Vernadsky believed that "symmetry ... covers the properties of all fields that a physicist and chemist deals with." Due to the symmetrical structure of atoms, molecules of inorganic substances enter into various reactions and cause the physical properties of the formation of crystals. Even if the laws of physics that establish physical quantities are unchanged under different transformations, then we can say that these laws have invariance or symmetry with respect to these transformations.