Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

#coastlineparadox

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn

@ufbd.bsky.social

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #457: The Coastline Paradox.
.
.
#math #mathematics #coastlineparadox #thecoastlineparadox #fractals #strangebuttrue #wtf #funfacts #facts #strangebuttrue #webcomics #comics #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

The Coastline Paradox says the length of a coastline changes with how closely you measure it. If you use a big ruler and draw long, straight lines, you skip over all the craggy bits. But as you use a smaller and smaller ruler, you catch more detail, and end up measuring around individual rocks and boulders, until the measured coastline approaches infinity itself-- while the surface area remains broadly the same.

August 8, 2025 at 3:22 PM Everybody can reply

4 likes

ScienceHumor.io

@sciencehumor-io.bsky.social

The Coastline Paradox: Where Infinity Meets Geography

#Coastlineparadox #Fractals #Mathematics #Geography #Dynamics

https://sciencehumor.io/math-memes/the-coastline-paradox-where-infinity-meets-geography-88o8

The Coastline Paradox: Where Infinity Meets Geography

September 25, 2025 at 9:01 AM Everybody can reply

4 likes