Fractal Zoom

Fractal Zoom allows participants to explore the Mandelbrot set. By forming a loop with their fingers, they are able to create a kind of magic magnifying glass with which they can zoom into any part of the set. In the top corner, the scale factor is related in familiar dimensions; before long they have zoomed-in such that the original image is bigger than an a football field, then a city block, Manhattan, Connecticut, etc. until within a few minutes they have reached the size of the solar system. In this subtle way, the participants learn about the power of exponential growth while being fascinated by the complex beauty of this fractal.