Palindromes

Palindromes are achiral words, such as:

  • nun
  • madam
  • pop

Or achiral phrases (once spaces and punctuation are removed, by convention) such as these famous examples:

  • Nurses, run!
  • Madam, I'm Adam!
  • A man, a plan, a canal: Panama!

Or achiral sequences, such as a palindromic gene segment:

  • GATTATATTAG

Or numbers:

  • 123454321

Try this one out...

  • 11 x 11 = 121
  • 111 x 111 = 12321
  • 1,111 x 1,111 = 1234321
  • 111,111,111 x 111,111,111=12345678987654321

(...what happens when we get past a nine digit number?)

This is not a palindrome:

((()))

But this is:

((((((

And this is:

(())((

Which makes me:

:( non (:

Palindrome Adjacent Concepts: the Ambigram

How about words which - font-willing - appear the same reflected in a mirror placed beside them Eg -

  • bod
  • dob

Here they need “mirror symmetry” about a vertical line through their center.

Or words which appear the same when reflected in a mirror placed above them -

  • coco

For that they need “mirror symmetry” about a horizontal line through their center.

how about words which appear the same when rotated, by “turning” the page upside (no mirrors this time), for example:

  • NOON

External references