Back to interactive Figure 8 Knot
Figure8 knot, rotating sequence
The figure 8 knot and its mirror image are the only "alternating" knots with 4 crossings.
Overpass- and underpas-crossings alternate for such knots. They cannot be drawn with
fewer crossings. During the rotation we have also projections with more than 4 crossings,
which are of course not alternating.
Figure 8 knot obtained by twisting one leaf of a trefoil knot.
It is a different view of the figure 8 knot, also "alternating". Since the threads are twisting around
each other (counter clockwise) in the middle portion, one can "see" that this knot
is different from its mirror image.
The image is of a so called “harmonic knot” or "Fourier knot", a curve whose
coordinate functions are trigonometric polynomials.
Anaglyph Rendering of figure 8 knot with so called "satellite knot".
The picture shows a 61-2-satellite, which means: while it runs along the
figure 8 knot 2 times around, it circles the knot curve 61 times.
Satellite knots are a simple way to construct more complicated knots from
simpler ones.
