Lesson 10: Sneaking Up the Line

Enter two complex numbers (z and c) as ordered pairs of real numbers, then click a button to iterate step by step. The iterates are graphed in the x-y plane and printed out in table form. This is an introduction to the idea of prisoners/escapees in iterated functions and the calculation of fractal Julia sets.

Audiences: Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Undergraduate

Primary Subjects: Algebra, Geometry, Graphs, Number and Operations

Related Topics: complex number, coordinate plane, coordinate system, exponents, fractals, functions, graph, infinity, iteration, julia set, mandelbrot set, recursion, recursive functions, sets