Polygon From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search For other uses, see Polygon

(disambiguation).

An assortment of polygons In geometry a polygon ( /pln/) is traditionally a plane figure that is bounded by a closed path or circuit, composed of a finite sequence of straight line segments (i.e., by a closed polygonal chain). These segments are called its edges or sides, and the points where two edges meet are the polygon's vertices or corners. An n-gon is a polygon with n sides. The interior of the polygon is sometimes called its body. A polygon is a 2-dimensional example of the more general polytope in any number of dimensions. The word "polygon" derives from the Greek ("many") and (gnia), meaning "knee" or "angle". Today a polygon is more usually understood in terms of sides. Usually two edges meeting at a corner are required to form an angle that is not straight (180); otherwise, the line segments will be considered parts of a single edge. The basic geometrical notion has been adapted in various ways to suit particular purposes. For example in the computer graphics (image generation) field, the term polygon has taken on a slightly altered meaning, more related to the way the shape is stored and manipulated within the computer. Contents [hide]

1 Classification o 1.1 Number of sides o 1.2 Convexity o 1.3 Symmetry o 1.4 Miscellaneous 2 Properties o 2.1 Angles o 2.2 Area and centroid 2.2.1 Self-intersecting polygons o 2.3 Degrees of freedom o 2.4 Product of diagonals of a regular polygon 3 Generalizations of polygons 4 Naming polygons 5 Constructing higher names 6 History 7 Polygons in nature 8 Uses o 8.1 In computer graphics 9 See also 10 References o 10.1 Notes o 10.2 Bibliography

11 External links

Classification Number of sides Polygons are primarily classified by the number of sides, see naming polygons below. Convexity Polygons may be characterised by their degree of convexity:

Convex: any line drawn through the polygon (and not tangent to an edge or corner) meets its boundary exactly twice. In other words, all its interior angles are less than 180. Non-convex: a line may be found which meets its boundary more than twice. In other words, it contains at least one interior angle with a measure larger than 180. Simple: the boundary of the polygon does not cross itself. All convex polygons are simple. Concave: Non-convex and simple. Star-shaped: the whole interior is visible from a single point, without crossing any edge. The polygon must be simple, and may be convex or concave. Self-intersecting: the boundary of the polygon crosses itself. Branko Grnbaum calls these coptic, though this term does not seem to be widely used. The term complex is sometimes used in contrast to simple, but this risks confusion with the idea of a complex polygon as one which exists in the complex Hilbert plane consisting of two complex dimensions. Star polygon: a polygon which self-intersects in a regular way.

Symmetry

Equiangular: all its corner angles are equal. Cyclic: all corners lie on a single circle. Isogonal or vertex-transitive: all corners lie within the same symmetry orbit. The polygon is also cyclic and equiangular. Equilateral: all edges are of the same length. (A polygon with 5 or more sides can be equilateral without being convex.) (Williams 1979, pp. 31-32) Isotoxal or edge-transitive: all sides lie within the same symmetry orbit. The polygon is also equilateral. Regular. A polygon is regular if it is both cyclic and equilateral. A non-convex regular polygon is called a regular star polygon.

Miscellaneous

Rectilinear: a polygon whose sides meet at right angles, i.e., all its interior angles are 90 or 270 degrees. Monotone with respect to a given line L, if every line orthogonal to L intersects the polygon not more than twice.

Properties We will assume Euclidean geometry throughout. Angles Any polygon, regular or irregular, self-intersecting or simple, has as many corners as it has sides. Each corner has several angles. The two most important ones are:

Interior angle The sum of the interior angles of a simple n-gon is (n 2) radians or (n 2)180 degrees. This is because any simple n-gon can be considered to be made up of (n 2) triangles, each of which has an angle sum of radians or 180 degrees. The measure of any interior angle of a convex regular n-gon is

radians or degrees. The interior angles of regular star polygons were first studied by Poinsot, in the same paper in which he describes the four regular star polyhedra. Exterior angle Imagine walking around a simple n-gon marked on the floor. The amount you "turn" at a corner is the exterior or external angle. Walking all the way round the polygon, you make one full turn, so the sum of the exterior angles must be 360. Moving around an n-gon in general, the sum of the exterior angles (the total amount one "turns" at the vertices) can be any integer multiple d of 360, e.g. 720 for a pentagram and 0 for an angular "eight", where d is the density or starriness of the polygon. See also orbit (dynamics).

The exterior angle is the supplementary angle to the interior angle. From this the sum of the interior angles can be easily confirmed, even if some interior angles are more than 180: going clockwise around, it means that one sometime turns left instead of right, which is counted as turning a negative amount. (Thus we consider something like the winding number of the orientation of the sides, where at every vertex the contribution is between and winding.) Area and centroid

Nomenclature of a 2D polygon. The area of a polygon is the measurement of the 2-dimensional region enclosed by the polygon. For a non-self[1] intersecting (simple) polygon with n vertices, the area and centroid are given by :

To close the polygon, the first and last vertices are the same, i.e., xn,yn = x0,y0. The vertices must be ordered clockwise or counterclockwise; if they are ordered clockwise, the area will be negative but correct in absolute value. [citation needed] This is commonly called the Surveyor's Formula. The formula was described by Meister in 1769 and by Gauss in 1795. It can be verified by dividing the polygon into triangles, but it can also be seen as a special case of Green's theorem. The area A of a simple polygon can also be computed if the lengths of the sides, a1,a2, ..., an and the exterior angles, are known. The formula is
[citation needed]

The formula was described by Lopshits in 1963.

[2]

If the polygon can be drawn on an equally spaced grid such that all its vertices are grid points, Pick's theorem gives a simple formula for the polygon's area based on the numbers of interior and boundary grid points. If any two simple polygons of equal area are given, then the first can be cut into polygonal pieces which can be reassembled to form the second polygon. This is the Bolyai-Gerwien theorem. The area of a regular polygon is also given in terms of its inscribed circle of radius r by

. The area of a regular n-gon inscribed in a unit circle is

. The area of a regular n-gon is given in terms of its circumscribed circle with radius R by

. The area of a regular n-gon, inscribed in a unit-radius circle, with side s and interior angle can also be expressed trigonometrically as

. The sides of a polygon do not in general determine the area. However, if the polygon is cyclic the sides do determine the area. Of all n-gons with given sides, the one with the largest area is cyclic.
[3]

Self-intersecting polygons The area of a self-intersecting polygon can be defined in two different ways, each of which gives a different answer:

Using the above methods for simple polygons, we discover that particular regions within the polygon may have their area multiplied by a factor which we call the density of the region. For example the central convex pentagon in the centre of a pentagram has density 2. The two triangular regions of a crossquadrilateral (like a figure 8) have opposite-signed densities, and adding their areas together can give a total area of zero for the whole figure.

Considering the enclosed regions as point sets, we can find the area of the enclosed point set. This corresponds to the area of the plane covered by the polygon, or to the area of a simple polygon having the same outline as the self-intersecting one (or, in the case of the cross-quadrilateral, the two simple triangles).

Degrees of freedom An n-gon has 2n degrees of freedom, including 2 for position, 1 for rotational orientation, and 1 for over-all size, so 2n 4 for shape. In the case of a line of symmetry the latter reduces to n 2. Let k 2. For an nk-gon with k-fold rotational symmetry (Ck), there are 2n 2 degrees of freedom for the shape. With additional mirror-image symmetry (Dk) there are n 1 degrees of freedom. Product of diagonals of a regular polygon For a regular n-gon inscribed in a unit-radius circle, the product of the distances from a given vertex to all other vertices equals n. Generalizations of polygons In a broad sense, a polygon is an unbounded (without ends) sequence or circuit of alternating segments (sides) and angles (corners). An ordinary polygon is unbounded because the sequence closes back in itself in a loop or circuit, while an apeirogon (infinite polygon) is unbounded because it goes on for ever so you can never reach any bounding end point. The modern mathematical understanding is to describe such a structural sequence in terms of an "abstract" polygon which is a partially ordered set (poset) of elements. The interior (body) of the polygon is another element, and (for technical reasons) so is the null polytope or nullitope. A geometric polygon is understood to be a "realization" of the associated abstract polygon; this involves some "mapping" of elements from the abstract to the geometric. Such a polygon does not have to lie in a plane, or have straight sides, or enclose an area, and individual elements can overlap or even coincide. For example a spherical polygon is drawn on the surface of a sphere, and its sides are arcs of great circles. So when we talk about "polygons" we must be careful to explain what kind we are talking about. A digon is a closed polygon having two sides and two corners. On the sphere, we can mark two opposing points (like the North and South poles) and join them by half a great circle. Add another arc of a different great circle and you have a digon. Tile the sphere with digons and you have a polyhedron called a hosohedron. Take just one great circle instead, run it all the way round, and add just one "corner" point, and you have a monogon or henagonalthough many authorities do not regard this as a proper polygon. Other realizations of these polygons are possible on other surfaces, but in the Euclidean (flat) plane, their bodies cannot be sensibly realized and we think of them as degenerate. The idea of a polygon has been generalized in various ways. Here is a short list of some degenerate cases (or special cases, depending on your point of view):

Digon. Interior angle of 0 in the Euclidean plane. See remarks above re. on the sphere. Interior angle of 180: In the plane this gives an apeirogon (see below), on the sphere a dihedron A skew polygon does not lie in a flat plane, but zigzags in three (or more) dimensions. The Petrie polygons of the regular polyhedra are classic examples. A spherical polygon is a circuit of sides and corners on the surface of a sphere. An apeirogon is an infinite sequence of sides and angles, which is not closed but it has no ends because it extends infinitely. A complex polygon is a figure analogous to an ordinary polygon, which exists in the complex Hilbert plane.

Naming polygons

The word "polygon" comes from Late Latin polygnum (a noun), from Greek polygnon/polugnon , noun use of neuter of polygnos/polugnos (the masculine adjective), meaning "many-angled". Individual polygons are named (and sometimes classified) according to the number of sides, combining a Greek-derived numerical prefix with the suffix -gon, e.g. pentagon, dodecagon. The triangle, quadrilateral or quadrangle, and nonagon are exceptions. For large numbers, mathematicians usually write the numeral itself, e.g. 17-gon. A variable can even be used, usually n-gon. This is useful if the number of sides is used in a formula. Some special polygons also have their own names; for example the regular star pentagon is also known as the pentagram. Polygon names Name henagon (or monogon) digon triangle (or trigon) quadrilateral (or quadrangle or tetragon) pentagon hexagon heptagon octagon enneagon or nonagon decagon hendecagon dodecagon tridecagon (or triskaidecagon) tetradecagon (or tetrakaidecagon) pentadecagon (or quindecagon or pentakaidecagon) hexadecagon (or hexakaidecagon) heptadecagon (or heptakaidecagon) octadecagon (or octakaidecagon) enneadecagon (or enneakaidecagon or nonadecagon) icosagon No established English name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 100 "hectogon" is the Greek name (see hectometre), "centagon" is a Latin-Greek hybrid; neither is widely attested. The measure of each angle in a regular chiliagon is 179.64. Ren Descartes used the chiliagon and myriagon (see below) as examples in his Sixth meditation to demonstrate a distinction which he made between pure intellection and imagination. He cannot imagine all thousand sides [of the chiliagon], as he can for a triangle. However, he clearly understands what a Edges Remarks In the Euclidean plane, degenerates to a closed curve with a single vertex point on it. In the Euclidean plane, degenerates to a closed curve with two vertex points on it. The simplest polygon which can exist in the Euclidean plane. The simplest polygon which can cross itself. The simplest polygon which can exist as a regular star. A star pentagon is known as a pentagram or pentacle. avoid "sexagon" = Latin [sex-] + Greek avoid "septagon" = Latin [sept-] + Greek "nonagon" is commonly used but mixes Latin [novem = 9] with Greek. Some modern authors prefer "enneagon". avoid "undecagon" = Latin [un-] + Greek avoid "duodecagon" = Latin [duo-] + Greek

chiliagon (

/klin/) 1000

myriagon [5] megagon apeirogon

chiliagon is, just as he understands what a triangle is, and he is able to distinguish it from a myriagon. Thus, he claims, the intellect is not dependent on [4] imagination. 10,000 See remarks on the chiliagon. 1,000,000 The internal angle of a regular megagon is 179.99964 degrees. A degenerate polygon of infinitely many sides

Constructing higher names To construct the name of a polygon with more than 20 and less than 100 edges, combine the prefixes as follows and Ones final suffix

20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

1 -henaicosi2 -ditriaconta3 -tritetraconta4 -tetrapentaconta- -kai- 5 -pentahexaconta6 -hexaheptaconta7 -heptaoctaconta8 -octaenneaconta9 -ennea-

Tens

-gon

The "kai" is not always used. Opinions differ on exactly when it should, or need not, be used (see also examples above). Alternatively, the system used for naming the higher alkanes can be used: Ones 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 hendotritetrapentahexaheptaoctaennea- (or nona-) 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Tens deca-cosatriacontatetracontapentacontahexacontaheptacontaoctacontaenneaconta- (or nonaconta-) final suffix

-gon

This has the advantage of being consistent with the system used for 10- thru 19-sided figures. That is, a 42-sided figure would be named as follows: Ones doTens final suffix full polygon name dotetracontagon

tetraconta- -gon

and a 50-sided figure Tens pentacontaand Ones final suffix full polygon name -gon pentacontagon

But beyond enneagons and decagons, professional mathematicians generally prefer the aforementioned numeral notation (for example, MathWorld has articles on 17-gons and 257-gons). Exceptions exist for side counts that are more easily expressed in verbal form. History Polygons have been known since ancient times. The regular polygons were known to the ancient Greeks, and the pentagram, a non-convex regular polygon (star polygon), appears on the vase of Aristophonus, Caere, dated to the [citation needed] 7th century B.C.. Non-convex polygons in general were not systematically studied until the 14th century by [6] Thomas Bredwardine. In 1952, Shephard generalised the idea of polygons to the complex plane, where each real dimension is [7] accompanied by an imaginary one, to create complex polygons. Polygons in nature

The Giant's Causeway, in Northern Ireland Numerous regular polygons may be seen in nature. In the world of geology, crystals have flat faces, or facets, which are polygons. Quasicrystals can even have regular pentagons as faces. Another fascinating example of regular polygons occurs when the cooling of lava forms areas of tightly packed hexagonal columns of basalt, which may be seen at the Giant's Causeway in Ireland, or at the Devil's Postpile in California.

Starfruit, a popular fruit in Southeast Asia

The most famous hexagons in nature are found in the animal kingdom. The wax honeycomb made by bees is an array of hexagons used to store honey and pollen, and as a secure place for the larvae to grow. There also exist animals who themselves take the approximate form of regular polygons, or at least have the same symmetry. For example, sea stars display the symmetry of a pentagon or, less frequently, the heptagon or other polygons. Other echinoderms, such as sea urchins, sometimes display similar symmetries. Though echinoderms do not exhibit exact radial symmetry, jellyfish and comb jellies do, usually fourfold or eightfold. Radial symmetry (and other symmetry) is also widely observed in the plant kingdom, particularly amongst flowers, and (to a lesser extent) seeds and fruit, the most common form of such symmetry being pentagonal. A particularly striking example is the Starfruit, a slightly tangy fruit popular in Southeast Asia, whose cross-section is shaped like a pentagonal star. Moving off the earth into space, early mathematicians doing calculations using Newton's law of gravitation discovered that if two bodies (such as the sun and the earth) are orbiting one another, there exist certain points in space, called Lagrangian points, where a smaller body (such as an asteroid or a space station) will remain in a stable orbit. The sun-earth system has five Lagrangian points. The two most stable are exactly 60 degrees ahead and behind the earth in its orbit; that is, joining the centre of the sun and the earth and one of these stable Lagrangian points forms an equilateral triangle. Astronomers have already found asteroids at these points. It is still debated whether it is practical to keep a space station at the Lagrangian point although it would never need course corrections, it would have to frequently dodge the asteroids that are already present there. There are already satellites and space observatories at the less stable Lagrangian points. Uses

Cut up a piece of paper into polygons, and put them back together as a tangram. Join many edge-to-edge as a tiling or tessellation. Join several edge-to-edge and fold them all up so there are no gaps, to make a three-dimensional polyhedron. Use computer-generated polygons to build up a three-dimensional world full of monsters, theme parks, aeroplanes or anything; see Polygons in computer graphics below.

In computer graphics This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2007) A polygon in a computer graphics (image generation) system is a two-dimensional shape that is modelled and stored within its database. A polygon can be coloured, shaded and textured, and its position in the database is defined by the co-ordinates of its vertices (corners). Naming conventions differ from those of mathematicians:

A simple polygon does not cross itself. a concave polygon is a simple polygon having at least one interior angle greater than 180. A complex polygon does cross itself.

Use of Polygons in Real-time imagery. The imaging system calls up the structure of polygons needed for the scene to be created from the database. This is transferred to active memory and finally, to the display system (screen, TV monitors etc) so that the scene can be viewed. During this process, the imaging system renders polygons in correct perspective ready for transmission of the processed data to the display system. Although polygons are two dimensional, through the system computer they are placed in a visual scene in the correct three-dimensional orientation so that as the viewing point moves through the scene, it is perceived in 3D.

Morphing. To avoid artificial effects at polygon boundaries where the planes of contiguous polygons are at different angle, so called "Morphing Algorithms" are used. These blend, soften or smooth the polygon edges so that the scene looks less artificial and more like the real world. Meshed Polygons. The number of meshed polygons ("meshed" is like a fish net) can be up to twice that of freestanding unmeshed polygons, particularly if the polygons are contiguous. If a square mesh has n + 1 points (vertices) per side, there are n squared squares in the mesh, or 2n squared triangles since there are two triangles in a square. There are (n+1) 2/2n2 vertices per triangle. Where n is large, this approaches one half. Or, each vertex inside the square mesh connects four edges (lines). Polygon Count. Since a polygon can have many sides and need many points to define it, in order to compare one imaging system with another, "polygon count" is generally taken as a triangle. When analysing the characteristics of a particular imaging system, the exact definition of polygon count should be obtained as it applies to that system as there is some flexibility in processing which causes comparisons to become non-trivial. Vertex Count. Although using this metric appears to be closer to reality it still must be taken with some salt. Since each vertex can be augmented with other attributes (such as color or normal) the amount of processing involved cannot be trivially inferred. Furthermore, the applied vertex transform is to be accounted, as well topology information specific to the system being evaluated as post-transform caching can introduce consistent variations in the expected results. Point in polygon test. In computer graphics and computational geometry, it is often necessary to determine whether a given point P = (x0,y0) lies inside a simple polygon given by a sequence of line segments. It is known as the Point in polygon test.

Routine and non routine problem A routine is a sequence of actions regularly followed. Non-routine would be something you wouldn't do at all regularly. My evening routine is home by six and dinner on the table by seven. Sleeping late is not or non routine in my family. Polygons A polygon is a plane shape with straight sides. Is it a Polygon? Polygons are 2-dimensional shapes. They are made of straight lines, and the shape is "closed" (all the lines connect up).

Polygon (straight sides)

Not a Polygon (has a curve)

Not a Polygon (open, not closed)

Polygon comes from Greek. Poly- means "many" and -gon means "angle". Types of Polygons Simple or Complex A simple polygon has only one boundary, and it doesn't cross over itself. A complex polygon intersects itself!

Simple Polygon (this one's a Pentagon) Concave or Convex

Complex Polygon (also a Pentagon)

A convex polygon has no angles pointing inwards. More precisely, no internal angles can be more than 180. If there are any internal angles greater than 180 then it is concave. (Think: concave has a "cave" in it)

Convex Regular or Irregular

Concave

If all angles are equal and all sides are equal, then it is regular, otherwise it is irregular

Regular More Examples

Irregular

Complex Polygon (a "star polygon", in this case, a pentagram)

Concave Octagon

Irregular Hexagon

Prism (optics)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search For other uses, see Prism (disambiguation).

A narrow shaft of white light enters a prism from the lower left. A specular reflection bounces off the first surface while the remaining light refracts and is dispersed by the first and second surface, resulting in a spectrum.

A plastic prism In optics, a prism is a transparent optical element with flat, polished surfaces that refract light. The exact angles between the surfaces depend on the application. The traditional geometrical shape is that of a triangular prism with a triangular base and rectangular sides, and in colloquial use "prism" usually refers to this type. Some types of optical prism are not in fact in the shape of geometric prisms. Prisms are typically made out of glass, but can be made from any material that is transparent to the wavelengths for which they are designed. A prism can be used to break light up into its constituent spectral colors (the colors of the rainbow). Prisms can also be used to reflect light, or to split light into components with different polarizations. Contents [hide]

1 How prisms work o 1.1 Deviation angle and dispersion 2 Prisms and the nature of light 3 Types of prisms o 3.1 Dispersive prisms 3.1.1 Grisms (grating prisms) o 3.2 Reflective prisms o 3.3 Polarizing prisms 4 In optometry 5 See also

6 References 7 External links

[edit] How prisms work This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2009)

A triangular prism, dispersing light; waves shown to illustrate the differing wavelengths of light. Light changes speed as it moves from one medium to another (for example, from air into the glass of the prism). This speed change causes the light to be refracted and to enter the new medium at a different angle (Huygens principle). The degree of bending of the light's path depends on the angle that the incident beam of light makes with the surface, and on the ratio between the refractive indices of the two media (Snell's law). The refractive index of many materials (such as glass) varies with the wavelength or color of the light used, a phenomenon known as dispersion. This causes light of different colors to be refracted differently and to leave the prism at different angles, creating an effect similar to a rainbow. This can be used to separate a beam of white light into its constituent spectrum of colors. Prisms will generally disperse light over a much larger frequency bandwidth than diffraction gratings, making them useful for broad-spectrum spectroscopy. Furthermore, prisms do not suffer from complications arising from overlapping spectral orders, which all gratings have. Prisms are sometimes used for the internal reflection at the surfaces rather than for dispersion. If light inside the prism hits one of the surfaces at a sufficiently steep angle, total internal reflection occurs and all of the light is reflected. This makes a prism a useful substitute for a mirror in some situations. [edit] Deviation angle and dispersion

A ray trace through a prism with apex angle . Regions 0, 1, and 2 have indices of refraction n0, n1, and n2, and primed angles ' indicate the ray angles after refraction. Ray angle deviation and dispersion through a prism can be determined by tracing a sample ray through the element and using Snell's law at each interface. The exact expressions for prism deviation and dispersion are complex, but for small angle of incidence 0 and small angle they can be approximated to give a simple formula. For the prism shown at right, the indicated angles are given by

. For a prism in air . Defining n = n1, the deviation angle is given by

The dispersion () is the wavelength-dependent deviation angle of the prism, so that for a thin prism the dispersion is given by

[edit] Prisms and the nature of light In Isaac Newton's time, it was believed that white light was colorless, and that the prism itself produced the color. Newton's experiments convinced him that all the colors already existed in the light in a heterogeneous fashion, and that "corpuscles" (particles) of light were fanned out because particles with different colors traveled with different speeds through the prism. It was only later that Young and Fresnel combined Newton's particle theory with Huygen's wave theory to show that color is the visible manifestation of light's wavelength. Newton arrived at his conclusion by passing the red color from one prism through a second prism and found the color unchanged. From this, he concluded that the colors must already be present in the incoming light thus, the prism did not create colors, but merely separated colors that are already there. He also used a lens and a second prism to recompose the spectrum back into white light. This experiment has become a classic example of the methodology introduced during the scientific revolution. The results of this experiment dramatically transformed the field of metaphysics, leading to John Locke's primary vs secondary quality distinction. Newton discussed prism dispersion in great detail in his book Opticks. He also introduced the use of more than one [2] prism to control dispersion. Newton's description of his experiments on prism dispersion was qualitative, and is quite readable. A quantitative description of multiple-prism dispersion was not needed until multiple prism laser beam [3] expanders were introduced in the 1980s. [edit] Types of prisms [edit] Dispersive prisms Main article: Dispersive prism
[1]

Dispersive prisms are used to break up light into its constituent spectral colors because the refractive index depends on frequency; the white light entering the prism is a mixture of different frequencies, each of which gets bent slightly differently. Blue light is slowed down more than red light and will therefore be bent more than red light.

Triangular prism Abbe prism PellinBroca prism Amici prism

[edit] Grisms (grating prisms) Main article: Grism Diffraction gratings may be replicated onto prisms to form grating prisms, called "grisms". A transmission grism is a useful component in an astronomical telescope, allowing observation of stellar spectra. A reflection grating replicated onto a prism allows light to diffract inside the prism medium, which increases the dispersion by the ratio of refractive index of that medium to that of air. [edit] Reflective prisms Reflective prisms are used to reflect light, for instance in binoculars and prismatic sighting compasses.

Pentaprism Porro prism PorroAbbe prism AbbeKoenig prism SchmidtPechan prism Dove prism Dichroic prism Amici roof prism

[edit] Polarizing prisms There are also polarizing prisms which can split a beam of light into components of varying polarization. These are typically made of a birefringent crystalline material.

Nicol prism Wollaston prism Nomarski prism a variant of the Wollastom prism with advantages in microscopy Rochon prism Snarmont prism GlanFoucault prism GlanTaylor prism GlanThompson prism

[edit] In optometry By shifting corrective lenses off axis, images seen through them can be displaced in the same way that a prism displaces images. Eye care professionals use prisms, as well as lenses off axis, to treat various orthoptics problems:

Diplopia [ambiguous] Positive and negative fusion problems Positive relative accommodation and negative relative accommodation problems

Rhombus From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search For other uses, see Rhombus (disambiguation). In geometry, a rhombus or rhomb is a quadrilateral whose four sides all have the same length. The rhombus is often called a diamond, after the diamonds suit in playing cards, or a lozenge, though the latter sometimes refers specifically to a rhombus with a 45 angle. Every rhombus is a parallelogram, and a rhombus with right angles is a square. (Euclid's original definition and some English dictionaries' definition of rhombus excludes squares, but most modern mathematicians prefer the [1] inclusive definition.) The English word rhombus derives from the Ancient Greek (rhombos), meaning spinning top. The plural of rhombus can be either rhombi or rhombuses. Contents [hide] Symmetry group D2 (*2) Rectangle convex, Isotoxal Rhombus

Family Type Edges and vertices

Bipyramid Quadrilateral 4

1 Properties 2 Origin 3 Rhombus in mathematics 4 Area Formulas 5 References 6 External links

Dual polygon Properties

[edit] Properties Every rhombus has two diagonals connecting opposite pairs of vertices and two pairs of parallel sides. Using congruent triangles, one can prove that the rhombus is symmetric across each of these diagonals. It follows that any rhombus has the following two properties: 1. 2. Opposite angles of a rhombus have equal measure. The two diagonals of a rhombus are perpendicular.

The first property implies that every rhombus is a parallelogram. A rhombus therefore has all of the properties of a parallelogram: opposite sides are parallel, adjacent angles are supplementary, and the two diagonals bisect one another. Not every parallelogram is a rhombus, though any parallelogram with perpendicular diagonals (the second property) is a rhombus. In general, any quadrilateral with perpendicular diagonals, one of which is a line of symmetry, is a kite. Every rhombus is a kite, and any quadrilateral that is both a kite and parallelogram is a rhombus. [edit] Origin

The word rhombus is from the Greek word for something that spins. Euclid used (rhombos), from the verb [2][3] (rhembo), meaning "to turn round and round". Archimedes used the term "solid rhombus" for two right [4] circular cones sharing a common base. [edit] Rhombus in mathematics

The dual polygon of a rhombus is a rectangle. One of the five 2D lattice types is the rhombic lattice, also called centered rectangular lattice. Identical rhombuses can tile the 2D plane in three different ways, including, for the 60 rhombus, the Rhombille tiling. Three-dimensional analogues of a rhombus include the bipyramid and the bicone.

[edit] Area Formulas The area of a rhombus is "base times height" (as for a parallelogram).

or "base squared times the sine of any angle"

or "half the product of the diagonals"

or "the semiperimeter times the radius of the circle inscribed in the rhombus"

Venn diagram From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search

A Venn diagram of sets A, B, and C

Venn diagrams or set diagrams are diagrams that show all hypothetically possible logical relations between a finite collection of sets (aggregation of things). Venn diagrams were conceived around 1880 by John Venn. They are used to teach elementary set theory, as well as illustrate simple set relationships in probability, logic, statistics, linguistics and computer science (see logical connectives). Contents [hide]

1 Overview 2 History 3 Example 4 Extensions to higher numbers of sets o 4.1 Edwards' Venn diagrams o 4.2 Other diagrams 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External links

[edit] Overview

Union of two sets:

Intersection of two sets:

Exclusive or of two sets A Venn diagram is constructed with a collection of simple closed curves drawn in the plane. According to Cyndi Joyce Aguzar (1918), the "principle of these diagrams is that classes [or sets] be represented by regions in such relation to one another that all the possible logical relations of these classes can be indicated in the same diagram. That is, the

diagram initially leaves room for any possible relation of the classes, and the actual or given relation, can then be [1] specified by indicating that some particular region is null or is not-null". Venn diagrams normally comprise overlapping circles. The interior of the circle symbolically represents the elements of the set, while the exterior represents elements which are not members of the set. For instance, in a two-set Venn diagram, one circle may represent the group of all wooden objects, while another circle may represent the set of all tables. The overlapping area or intersection would then represent the set of all wooden tables. Shapes other than circles can be employed, and this is necessary for more than three sets. Venn diagrams do not generally contain information on the relative or absolute sizes (cardinality) of sets; i.e. they are schematic diagrams. Venn diagrams are very similar to Euler diagrams, but whereas a Venn diagram for n component sets must contain n all 2 hypothetically possible zones corresponding to some combination of being included or excluded in each of the component sets, Euler diagrams contain only the actually possible zones in a given context. In Venn diagrams, a shaded zone may represent an empty zone, whereas in an Euler diagram the corresponding zone is missing from the diagram. For example, if one set represents "dairy products" and another "cheeses", then the Venn diagram contains a zone for cheeses that are not dairy products. Assuming that in the context "cheese" means some type of dairy product, the Euler diagram will have the cheese zone entirely contained within the dairy-product zone; there is no zone for (non-existent) non-dairy cheese. This means that as the number of contours increase, Euler diagrams are typically less visually complex than the equivalent Venn diagram, particularly if the number of non-empty intersections [2] is small. [edit] History Venn diagrams were introduced in 1880 by John Venn (18341923) in a paper entitled "On the Diagrammatic and Mechanical Representation of Propositions and Reasonings" in the "Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science", [3] about the different ways to represent propositions by diagrams. The use of these types of diagrams in formal logic, according to Ruskey and M. Weston (2005), is "not an easy history to trace, but it is certain that the diagrams that are popularly associated with Venn, in fact, originated much earlier. They are rightly associated with Venn, however, [4] because he comprehensively surveyed and formalized their usage, and was the first to generalize them". Venn himself didn't use the term "Venn diagram" but kept speaking of "Eulerian Circles". In the opening sentence of his 1880 article Venn declared: "Schemes of diagrammatic representation have been so familiarly introduced into logical treatises during the last century or so, that many readers, even those who have made noprofessional study of logic, may be supposed to be acquainted with the general nation and object of such devices. Of these schemes one [5] only, viz. that commonly called Eulerian circles, has met with any general acceptance...". The first to use the term [4] "Venn diagram" was Clarence Irving Lewis in 1918, in his book "A Survey of Symbolic Logic". Venn diagrams are very similar to Euler diagrams, which were invented by Leonhard Euler (17081783) in the 18th [6] century. M. E. Baron has noted that Leibniz (16461716) in the 17th century produced similar diagrams before Euler, however, much of it was unpublished. She also observes even earlier Euler-like diagrams by Ramon Lull in the [7] 13th Century. In the 20th century Venn diagrams were further developed. D.W. Henderson showed in 1963 that the existence of an [8] n-Venn diagram with n-fold rotational symmetry implied that n was prime. He also showed that such symmetric Venn diagrams exist when n is 5 or 7. In 2002 Peter Hamburger found symmetric Venn diagrams for n = 11 and in 2003, Griggs, Killian, and Savage showed that symmetric Venn diagrams exist for all other primes. Thus symmetric [9] Venn diagrams exist if and only if n is a prime number. Venn diagrams and Euler diagrams were incorporated as part of instruction in set theory as part of the new math [10] movement in the 1960s. Since then, they have also been adopted by other curriculum fields such as reading. [edit] Example
[3]

Sets A (creatures with two legs) and B (creatures that can fly) The following example involves two sets, A and B, represented here as coloured circles. The orange circle, set A, represents all living creatures that are two-legged. The blue circle, set B, represents the living creatures that can fly. Each separate type of creature can be imagined as a point somewhere in the diagram. Living creatures that both can fly and have two legsfor example, parrotsare then in both sets, so they correspond to points in the area where the blue and orange circles overlap. That area contains all such and only such living creatures. Humans and penguins are bipedal, and so are then in the orange circle, but since they cannot fly they appear in the left part of the orange circle, where it does not overlap with the blue circle. Mosquitoes have six legs, and fly, so the point for mosquitoes is in the part of the blue circle that does not overlap with the orange one. Creatures that are not two-legged and cannot fly (for example, whales and spiders) would all be represented by points outside both circles. The combined area of sets A and B is called the union of A and B, denoted by A B. The union in this case contains all living creatures that are either two-legged or that can fly (or both). The area in both A and B, where the two sets overlap, is called the intersection of A and B, denoted by A B. For example, the intersection of the two sets is not empty, because there are points representing creatures that are in both the orange and blue circles. [edit] Extensions to higher numbers of sets

Venn's construction for 4 sets

Venn's construction for 5 sets

Venn's construction for 6 sets

Venn's four-set diagram using ellipses

This symmetrical diagram is not a Venn diagram for four sets as it has only 13 regions. There is no region where only the yellow and blue meet, or only the pink and green. While Venn diagrams typically support three sets, there are forms that allow for higher numbers. Venn was keen to find symmetrical figureselegant in themselves representing higher numbers of sets and he devised a four-set diagram using ellipses.(See above) He also gave a construction for Venn diagrams for any number of sets, where each successive curve delimiting a set is interleaved with previous curves, starting with the 3-circle diagram. [edit] Edwards' Venn diagrams

A. W. F. Edwards gave a construction to higher numbers of sets that features some symmetries. His construction is achieved by projecting the Venn diagram onto a sphere. Three sets can be easily represented by taking three hemispheres at right angles (x=0, y=0 and z=0). A fourth set can be represented by taking a curve similar to the seam on a tennis ball which winds up and Edwards' Venn diagram of three sets down around the equator. The resulting sets can then be projected back to the plane to give cogwheel diagrams with increasing numbers of teeth. These diagrams were devised while designing a stained-glass window in memoriam to Venn. [edit] Other diagrams

Edwards' Venn diagram of four sets

Edward's Venn diagrams are Edwards' Venn diagram of five sets Edwards' Venn diagram of six sets topologically equivalent to diagrams devised by Branko Grnbaum which were based around intersecting polygons with increasing numbers of sides. They are also 2-dimensional representations of hypercubes.

Smith devised similar n-set diagrams using sine curves with the series of equations and .

, where

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson devised a five set diagram.

What is a Polygon? A closed plane figure made up of several line segments that are joined together. The sides do not cross each other. Exactly two sides meet at every vertex.

Types | Formulas | Parts | Special Polygons | Names Types of Polygons Regular - all angles are equal and all sides are the same length. Regular polygons are both equiangular and equilateral. Equiangular - all angles are equal. Equilateral - all sides are the same length.

Convex - a straight line drawn through a convex polygon crosses at most two sides. Every interior angle is less than 180.

Concave - you can draw at least one straight line through a concave polygon that crosses more than two sides. At least one interior angle is more than 180.

Polygon Formulas (N = # of sides and S = length from center to a corner) Area of a regular polygon = (1/2) N sin(360/N) S
2

Sum of the interior angles of a polygon = (N - 2) x 180 The number of diagonals in a polygon = 1/2 N(N-3) The number of triangles (when you draw all the diagonals from one vertex) in a polygon = (N - 2) Polygon Parts

Side - one of the line segments that make up the polygon. Vertex - point where two sides meet. Two or more of these points are called vertices. Diagonal - a line connecting two vertices that isn't a side. Interior Angle - Angle formed by two adjacent sides inside the polygon. Exterior Angle - Angle formed by two adjacent sides outside the polygon.

Special Polygons Special Quadrilaterals - square, rhombus, parallelogram, rectangle, and the trapezoid. Special Triangles - right, equilateral, isosceles, scalene, acute, obtuse.

Polygon Names Generally accepted names Sides n 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 12 Name N-gon Triangle Quadrilateral Pentagon Hexagon Heptagon Octagon Decagon Dodecagon

Names for other polygons have been proposed. Sides 9 11 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 1,000 10,000 Name Nonagon, Enneagon Undecagon, Hendecagon Tridecagon, Triskaidecagon Tetradecagon, Tetrakaidecagon Pentadecagon, Pentakaidecagon Hexadecagon, Hexakaidecagon Heptadecagon, Heptakaidecagon Octadecagon, Octakaidecagon Enneadecagon, Enneakaidecagon Icosagon Triacontagon Tetracontagon Pentacontagon Hexacontagon Heptacontagon Octacontagon Enneacontagon Hectogon, Hecatontagon Chiliagon Myriagon

To construct a name, combine the prefix+suffix Sides 20 30 40 Prefix Icosikai... Triacontakai... Tetracontakai... + Sides Suffix +1 +2 +3 ...henagon ...digon ...trigon

50 60 70 80 90

Pentacontakai... Hexacontakai... Heptacontakai... Octacontakai... Enneacontakai...

+4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9

...tetragon ...pentagon ...hexagon ...heptagon ...octagon ...enneagon

Examples: 46 sided polygon - Tetracontakaihexagon 28 sided polygon - Icosikaioctagon However, many people use the form n-gon, as in 46-gon, or 28-gon instead of these names.