Is the figure to the above a knot?
Sometimes we run into figures that cannot be classified as knots. This figure at the right looks kind of like a knot, but we no longer have a simple closed curve - we have a group of simple closed curves (three separate loops). The new figure is called a link.
A link is a collection of knots; the individual knots which make up a link are called the components of the link. This specific link shown above is known as the Borromean Rings.
An interesting fact about the Borromean Rings: If you remove one of the component loops, the other two loops will no longer be connected! An interesting question: Can the Borromean Rings be formed using 3 flat closed loops?
Just as mathematicians try to untangle knots to form the unknot, we try to separate links to form the "unlink". A link is referred to as splittable if the component loops can be separated without cutting.
