FAMOUS KNOT, TIED BY 160 ATOMS

摘要

Just 160 atoms have been made to combine by tying themselves into the smallest version of the pentaf oil knot ever made. It is also the most complicated knot ever achieved by a single molecule. The knot also known as the cinquefoil, or Solomon's knot, is a "prime knot'. Its woven star-shape contains five crossing points and cannot be built from smaller knots, similar to the way a prime number cannot be built by multiplying smaller numbers. A version features on the flags of Ethiopia and Morocco, giving it cultural as well as mathematical significance.