Spiral

Archimedean arms: radius grows linearly with angle. Turns wind the coil; arms is how many start equally around the origin.

Spiral: Archimedean arms: radius grows linearly with angle. Turns wind the coil; arms is how many start equally around the origin.Spiral: Archimedean arms: radius grows linearly with angle. Turns wind the coil; arms is how many start equally around the origin.

About this pattern

Archimedes, c. 225 BCE

Spiral, archimedean spiral, drawn by GART: Archimedean arms: radius grows linearly with angle. Turns wind the coil; arms is how many start equally around the origin.
Spiral · CC BY 4.0

Archimedean arms: radius grows linearly with angle. Turns wind the coil; arms start equally around the origin. Unrolled, it is a straight climb. Distinct from the Fibonacci square spiral, which lives next door.

1D fold
Unrolled: radius grows with angle. Wind the line around the origin and the arms appear.

Behind the mathematics

Archimedesc. 287–c. 212 BCE

Archimedean spiral

Greek mathematician whose study of the spiral established a curve whose radius grows at a constant rate with its angle.