Why Do Shapes Tile the Plane Perfectly Some of the Time?

Plane tiling is like playing with a bunch of shape blocks that fit perfectly together to cover the floor, leaving no gaps or overlaps. Some shapes, like squares and hexagons, can be tiled forever, but others, like pentagons, need special arrangements to work. It's like matching puzzle pieces, some just click into place easily, while others take more thinking.

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Examples

  1. A checkerboard is made by tiling squares together perfectly
  2. Hexagons fit neatly together like a honeycomb
  3. Trying to fit pentagon floor tiles often leaves gaps

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