How to draw a pentagon using an L-system

The rules of L-systems can be used to generate shapes such as the pentagon. The basic rules of L-systems are:

F : move forward a distance

- : change direction and go clockwise

+ : change direction and go anti-clockwise

Since a pentagon has external angles of 72 degrees (as shown in the workings below), when using an L-system, you'd have to set the turn angle to that figure to generate the desired outcome.

Angles of a pentagon

So, to draw a pentagon, you'd need to use the rule:

F+F+F+F+F [Turn angle: 72 degrees]

And that would give you the correct drawing.

I learnt this method in the book 'Pattern Generation for Computational Art' by Stefan Hollos and J. Richard Hollos.

It contains very good tutorials about how to apply L-systems, so I would recommend it to anyone interested in this kind of computational art.

You can purchase this book via my affiliate link here: https://amzn.to/3DQe5Iw

Purchases made through my affiliate links help sustain this blog and my maths project, so many thanks if you do decide to get the book.

Pattern Generation for Computational Art 

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