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Geometry › Make something
Tessellation artist
Pick a tile, pick a colour, click to fill — make a pattern that has no gaps and no overlaps.
Tessellation artist
Pick a tile, pick a colour, click to fill — make a pattern with no gaps.
Colour
Triangles, squares and hexagons are the only regular shapes that tile a flat plane on their own — because their corner angles fit exactly into 360°.
Why these three?
Only three regular polygons can tile the plane on their own: triangles, squares and hexagons. Why?
The 360° rule
At every point where tiles meet, the angles around that point must add to exactly 360°. Triangles fit 6 × 60°. Squares 4 × 90°. Hexagons 3 × 120°. Pentagons (108°) leave a gap. Heptagons overshoot.
Try a pattern
- Make a checkerboard (alternating colours on the squares).
- Build a honeycomb on the hexagonal tile.
- Stripe the triangles in three colours — every triangle is rotated 60° from its neighbour.
Beyond the regular three
Mix two shapes and you can build many semi-regular tessellations. Mix irregular shapes and you can tile anything — that's how M.C. Escher made art from interlocking lizards and birds.