Chaos

Pronunciation: /ˈkeɪ.ɒs/ Explain

In mathematics, the term chaos is used to describe the tendency of some functions to have widely differing output with very small changes in input^[1]. One example of a chaotic system is weather. The main inputs to weather systems are pressure, humidity, and temperature. If these inputs change slightly, the resulting weather may be completely different. This is why weather is so hard to predict.

Fractals are chaotic functions. For examples of fractal art, see http://www.lifeisastoryproblem.com/art/index.html.

References

1. McAdams, David E.. All Math Words Dictionary, chaos. 2nd Classroom edition 20150108-4799968. pg 32. Life is a Story Problem LLC. January 8, 2015. Buy the book
2. Bishop, Robert. Chaos. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, CSLI, Stanford University. Last Accessed 6/25/2018. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/chaos/.
3. Heinz-Otto Peitgen, Hartmut Jürgens, and Dietmar Saupe. Chaos and Fractals: New Frontiers of Science. 2nd edition. Springer. February 3, 2004. Last Accessed 6/25/2018. Buy the book

More Information

• McAdams, David E.. Math Art. lifeisastoryproblem.com. Life is a Story Problem LLC. 6/27/2018. http://www.lifeisastoryproblem.com/art/index.html.

Cite this article as:

McAdams, David E. Chaos. 12/21/2018. All Math Words Encyclopedia. Life is a Story Problem LLC. http://www.allmathwords.org/en/c/chaos.html.

Revision History

12/21/2018: Reviewed and corrected IPA pronunication. (McAdams, David E.)
6/25/2018: Removed broken links, updated license, implemented new markup, updated GeoGebra apps. (McAdams, David E.)
1/4/2010: Added "References". (McAdams, David E.)
6/7/2008: Corrected spelling. (McAdams, David E.)
4/22/2008: Initial version. (McAdams, David E.)