Life Period-5 Oscillators

Size in bits: 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | Larger
Cost in gliders: 3 | 1 glider/bit | >1 glider/bit | unknown
Frequency of occurrence



The 1 fifteen-bit period 5 oscillator

15b P5

Pseudo- barber- pole; Flammen- kamp's P5 [28]

The pseudo-barber-pole superficially resembles the whole series of period 2 barber-pole oscillators, but strangely enough, has a period of 5 instead. It forms the basis for a large number of larger period 5 oscillators (and many with periods that are multiples of 5, such as period 10).


The 1 sixteen-bit period 5 oscillator

16b P5

Octagon II [6]

Octagon II has eight fingers that can sometimes be used to hassle other oscillators like the period 50 Traffic Jam.


The 2 seventeen-bit period 5 oscillators

17-bit P5

Silver's P5 on snake [19] Silver's P5 on snake [14]


The 4 eighteen-bit period 5 oscillators

18-bit P5

Fumarole [7] Silver's P5 on python [23] Silver's P5 on eater [24] Silver's P5 above eater [12]

The Fumarole is the smallest oscillator that produces a period 5 domino spark.


The 8 nineteen-bit period 5 oscillators

19-bit P5

Fumarole w/ tub [12] Silver's P5 on very long snake [16] Silver's P5 on canoe [16] Silver's P5 above shil- lelagh [23] Silver's P5 behind shil- lelagh [17] Silver's P5 on hook w/ tail [31] Silver's P5 above hook w/ tail [15] Silver's P5 above tub w/ tail [14]


The 16 twenty-bit period 5 oscillators

20-bit period 5 oscillators

Fumarole w/ up boat [10] Fumar- ole w/ two tubs [16] Silver's P5 on integral [27] Silver's P5 above long shil- lelagh [27] Silver's P5 on long canoe [20] Silver's P5 on long hook w/ tail [23] Silver's P5 above extra long snake [20] Elkies's P5 [24]
Silver's P5 above tub w/ long tail [26] Silver's P5 on hat [18] Silver's P5 behind tub w/ long tail [22] Silver's P5 above down boat w/ tail [14] Silver's P5 above up boat w/ tail [15] Silver's P5 above long hook w/ tail [16] Pentoad between two eaters [12] Pseudo- barber- pole tie boat [36]


The 42 21-bit period 5 oscillators

21-bit period 5 oscillators

Fumarole w/ tub and up boat [14] Silver's P5 before cis shillelagh [22] Silver's P5 on cis hook w/ tail [30] Silver's P5 above integral w/ hook [30] Silver's P5 above integral w/ tub [30] Silver's P5 on snake siamese snake [27] Silver's P5 on snake siamese carrier [24]
Silver's P5 above tub w/ very long tail [30] Silver's P5 on carrier siamese snake [22] Silver's P5 on carrier siamese carrier [19] Silver's P5 on very long hook w/ tail [27] Silver's P5 above very long shillelagh [20] Silver's P5 on extra extra long snake [20] Fumarole w/ up barge [14]
Fumarole w/ fuse w/ tail [16] Silver's P5 above boat w/ long tail [28] Silver's P5 on very long canoe [20] Elkies's P5 w/ tub [28] Silver's P5 on up long hat [21] Silver's P5 on block on table [22] Silver's P5 on down long hat [40]
Silver's P5 behind boat w/ long tail [24] Silver's P5 above block on table [31] Silver's P5 on integral w/ hook [37] Hooks on snake [17] Hooks on carrier [14] Silver's P5 above cis hook w/ tail [43] Silver's P5 on beehive w/ tail [14]
Silver's P5 on down barge w/ tail [17] Silver's P5 above claw w/ tail [14] Silver's P5 on fuse w/ two tails [18] Silver's P5 on up barge w/ tail [16] Silver's P5 above very long hook w/ tail [18] Up table on pseudo barber pole [31] Up table below pseudo barber pole [31]
Down table below pseudo barber pole [33] Down table on pseudo barber pole [33] Pseudo barber pole tie up snake [41] Pseudo barber pole tie down snake [41] Pseudo barber pole tie ship [38] Pseudo barber pole tie up carrier [40] Pseudo barber pole tie down carrier [40]


The 76 22-bit period 5 oscillators

Unfortunately, due to time limitations, these cannot yet be shown. These consist of:

Syntheses for 5 of these are shown; all others are easy to synthesize using standard techniques except one expanded Elkies's P5 and one Silver's P5, also shown below.

22-bit period 5 oscillators

Elkies's P5 w/ claw and pre-block [x] Silver's P5 before cis shil- lelagh w/ tub [x] Elkies's P5 w/ boat [30] Hooks on eater [22] Hooks on python [17] Silver's P5 above long cis hook w/ tail [53] Hooks above eater [15]


The 210 23-bit period 5 oscillators

Unfortunately, due to time limitations, these cannot yet be shown. These consist of:

Synthesis for 1 of these is shown; all others are easy to synthesize using standard techniques except one expanded Elkies's P5, also shown below, and a few cases of Silver's P5.

23 bit P5

Elkies's P5 w/ claw w/ tub and pre-block [x] Pentoad 1h2; Pentoad between eater and bookend and block [19]


The 419 24-bit period 5 oscillators

Unfortunately, due to time limitations, these cannot yet be shown. These consist of:

Synthesis for 1 of these are shown; all others are easy to synthesize using standard techniques except three expanded Elkies's P5s, also shown below, and a few cases of Silver's P5.

24 bit P5

Block on Elkies's P5 w/ loaf [28] Elkies's P5 w/ claw w/ boat and pre-block [x] Elkies's P5 w/ long bookend and claw and pre-block [x] Elkies's P5 siamese snake [x]


6 period 5 oscillators 26 bits and larger

larger period 5 oscillators

Two pentoads between two eaters [17] Hooks on two snakes [22] Heart [15] Two pentoads between two eaters and a pond [19] 40-bit P5 oscillator [27] Harbor [34]



1 period 5 oscillator buildable from 6 gliders

g6 P5

Octagon II [6]

Octagon II has eight fingers that can sometimes be used to hassle other oscillators like the period 50 Traffic Jam.


The 3 period 5 oscillators up to 21 bits costing 1 glider/bit

1 glider/bit p5 oscillators

Silver's P5 above long canoe [20] Silver's P5 above extra long snake [20] Silver's P5 on up long hat [21]


The 38 period 5 oscillators up to 21 bits costing >1 glider/bit

gt. 1 glider/bit p5 oscillators


The 2 period 5 oscillators up to 22 bits without any known syntheses

unknown P5 oscillators

Elkies's P5 w/ claw and pre-block [x] Silver's P5 before cis shil- lelagh w/ tub [x]



The top 1 naturally-occurring period 5 oscillator

natural P5

Octagon II [6] (1.7e9)

Octagon II has eight fingers that can sometimes be used to hassle other oscillators like the period 50 Traffic Jam.



Related: period-5 pseudo-oscillators.

Other oscillators by period: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 24, 30, 36, 60, other.

Other types: still-lifes, pseudo-still-lifes, oscillators, pseudo-oscillators, oscillators by period, pseudo-oscillators by period, guns, multi-colored Life, basic spaceships and pseudo-spaceships, exotic spaceships, spaceships flotillae, puffers, constellations, methuselahs, not quite stable objects.

See also: Life objects sorted by: counts, frequency of occurrence, cost in gliders, name, size in bits, or type.

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This page was last updated on 2015-02-19.