Question about Polynomial Math Project

Jaymes Dec

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Sep 22, 2023, 10:38:55 AM9/22/23

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Hi everyone!

I am working with a math teacher on a project idea. She wanted to have students "do something with polynomial functions".

I immediately thought about this classic beetleblocks vase project: Twitter Link, Youtube

The idea is to graph a polynomial in 2 dimensions and then revolve it around an axis to make a bowl or vase.

But the inspiration above does this in a different way.

I tried to do the polynomial technique in beetleblocks. I can graph the polynomial. But I'm struggling with how to revolve it. I tried to do it like this. But that just keeps repeating the graph in the same plane. I realized that this approach might require some trigonometry and that is outside the scope of the math course.

I also tried to do this in TinkerCAD blocks using the Rotate Around block. That was working but it is using too many primitives so I can't complete the vase. See the images attached.

Any other ideas for me?

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Jaymes Dec
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Joan Horvath

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Sep 23, 2023, 10:06:59 PM9/23/23

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This is pretty easy to do in OpenSCAD, open source at www.openscad.org, with lots of great examples.

It requires coding in a C-like language. There are (I think not free) block versions but I do not know their functionality.

Finally our Make:Geometry, Make:Trigonometry and Make:Calculus books each have open-source 3D printable libraries you can browse (in OpenSCAD and select STLs). All are linked on our site, nonscriptum.com. The surface of revolution model in Chapter 7 of Make:Calculus I think does what you want. You specify the curve and it creates the volume swept out by it and the curve (which you can then connect with wire and demonstrate the sweep).

Joan Horvath

Co-founder, Nonscriptum LLC

(And co-author of Make: math books)

Jamie Back

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Sep 24, 2023, 4:47:13 PM9/24/23

to K-12 Fab Labs and Makerspaces

The rotation can be done easily in GeoGebra or Mathematica, if you are willing to give up the coding part of the project. Here’s a blog post I wrote several years ago: https://makinginmath.wordpress.com/2018/12/07/making-and-3d-printing-vases-mathart/.