The Mandelbrot and Julia Sets

Explore Iteration, Linearization, and More These activities delve into the study of complex dynamics through the intricate images discovered by Benoit Mandelbrot. Beginning with a review of iteration and the geometry of the complex plane, The Mandelbrot and Julia Sets shows students how iterations of quadratic expressions in the form of x2 + c lead to ideas and shapes of incredible beauty and complexity. Your students can experiment with a process called linearization taking an intractable problem and approximating it with one that is solvable. This is an exciting new area of study and meshes nicely with topics covered in algebra courses.