Overview
In mathematics, the Menger sponge (also known as the Menger cube, Menger universal curve, Sierpinski cube, or Sierpinski sponge) is a fractal curve. It is a three-dimensional generalization of the one-dimensional Cantor set and two-dimensional Sierpinski carpet. It was first described by Karl Menger in 1926, in his studies of the concept of topological dimension.
Construction
The construction of a Menger sponge can be described as follows:
Begin with a cube.
Divide every face of the cube into nine squares, like a Rubik's Cube. This sub-divides the cube into 27 smaller cubes.
Remove the smaller cube in the middle of each face, and remove the smaller cube in the center of the more giant cube, leaving 20 smaller cubes. This is a level-1 Menger sponge (resembling a void cube).
Repeat steps two and three for each of the remaining smaller cubes, and continue to iterate ad infinitum.
The second iteration gives a level-2 sponge, the third iteration gives a level-3 sponge, and so on. The Menger sponge itself is the limit of this process after an infinite number of iterations.
Properties
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