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An Extended Project on fractals/the Mandelbrot set - any advice?

I have to start an EPQ (Extended Project Qualification) in January, and my choices are:

- 5000 word dissertation
- 'Artefact' (anything you can 'make') + 1000 word essay
- Performance (music/drama, not doing this one)

My idea was to do mine on fractals, in particular the Mandelbrot set. I wrote a program quite a while ago that rendered the Mandelbrot and Julia sets, and I thought of doing something related for my EPQ. Either:

- Dissertation on the famous fractals (Sierpinksi, Koch, Mandelbrot, Julia, Newton) and explaining exactly how they work and why
- Code an improved program that can create accurate, detailed, beautiful renderings of the Mandelbrot and Julia sets and explain the mathematical processes behind them
-Practical uses for fractals (realistic landscapes, antennas, perlin noise, image compression, etc.)

I don't quite understand the exact marking scheme of the EPQ, so I would like to know which of the above has the greatest potential in terms of both covering enough content as well as getting a good mark.

Thanks.

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