Questions tagged [geometry]

For questions about geometric shapes, congruences, similarities, transformations, as well as the properties of classes of figures, points, lines, and angles.

Geometry is one of the classical disciplines of math. It is derived from two Latin words, "geo" + "metron" meaning earth & measurement. Thus it is concerned with the properties and relations of points, lines, surfaces, solids, and higher dimensional analogs. Since its earliest days, geometry has served as a practical guide for measuring lengths, areas, and volumes, and geometry is still used for this purpose today. Geometry is important because the world is made up of different shapes and spaces.

Geometry has applications to many fields, including art, architecture, physics, as well as to other branches of mathematics.

Sub-fields of contemporary geometry:

$1.\quad$ Algebraic geometry – is a branch of geometry studying zeroes of multivariate polynomials. It includes the linear and polynomial algebraic equations used for finding these sets of zeros. The applications of algebraic geometry include cryptography, string theory, etc.

$2.\quad$ Discrete geometry – is concerned with the relative positions of simple geometric objects, such as points, lines, triangles, circles etc.

$3.\quad$ Differential geometry – uses techniques of algebra and calculus for problem-solving. The applications of differential geometry include general relativity in physics, etc.

$4.\quad$ Euclidean geometry – The study of plane and solid figures on the basis of axioms and theorems including points, lines, planes, angles, congruence, similarity, solid figures. It has a wide range of applications in computer science, modern mathematics problem solving, crystallography etc.

$5.\quad$ Convex geometry – includes convex shapes in Euclidean space using techniques of real analysis. It has application in optimization and functional analysis in number theory.

$6.\quad$ Topology – is concerned with properties of space under continuous mapping. Its application includes consideration of compactness, completeness, continuity, filters, function spaces, grills, clusters and bunches, hyperspace topologies, initial and final structures, metric spaces, metrization, nets, proximal continuity, proximity spaces, separation axioms, and uniform spaces.

$7.\quad$ Plane geometry – This wing of geometry deals with flat shapes which can be drawn on a piece of paper. These include lines, circles & triangles of two dimensions.

$8.\quad$ Solid geometry – It deals with $3$-dimensional objects like cubes, prisms, cylinders & spheres.

Reference:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geometry

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Why is the Penrose triangle "impossible"?

I remember seeing this shape as a kid in school and at that time it was pretty obvious to me that it was "impossible". Now I looked at it again and I can't see why it is impossible anymore.. Why can't an object like the one represented in the…
user736690
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8 answers

Can manholes be made in other shapes than circles, that prevent the cover from being able to fall down its own hole?

Circular manholes are great because the cover can not fall down the hole. If the hole were square, the heavy metal cover could fall down the hole and kill some man working down there. Circular manhole: Can manholes be made in other shapes than…
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Volumes of n-balls: what is so special about n=5?

The volume of an $n$-dimensional ball of radius $1$ is given by the classical formula $$V_n=\frac{\pi^{n/2}}{\Gamma(n/2+1)}.$$ For small values of $n$, we have $$V_1=2\qquad$$ $$V_2\approx 3.14$$ $$V_3\approx 4.18$$ $$V_4\approx…
84
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20 circles in the plane, all passing through the origin

Suppose I draw $20$ circles in the plane, all passing through the origin, but no two tangent at the origin. Also, except for the origin, no three circles pass through a common point. How many regions are created in the plane?
laser01
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Finding a point along a line a certain distance away from another point!

Let's say you have two points, $(x_0, y_0)$ and $(x_1, y_1)$. The gradient of the line between them is: $$m = (y_1 - y_0)/(x_1 - x_0)$$ And therefore the equation of the line between them is: $$y = m (x - x_0) + y_0$$ Now, since I want another point…
Kel196
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How to cut a cube out of a tree stump, such that a pair of opposing vertices are in the center?

I saw this picture of a cube cut out of a tree stump. I've been trying to craft the same thing out of a tree stump, but I found it hard to figure out how to do it. One of the opposing vertices pair is on the center of the tree stump: I've been…
53
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How far can one see over the ocean?

Since Earth is a sphere, one has only a limited visibility radius. How far is that, actually? This Q&A was inspired by this question, about whether or not Legolas can see the 24km distant Riders of Rohan.
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What is (a) geometry?

There is no question what topology is and what it's about: it's about topologies (= topological spaces), and that's it. There is also no question what (universal) algebra is and what it's about. (Among other things, it's about algebras.) But what is…
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Mapping Irregular Quadrilateral to a Rectangle

I have a camera looking at a computer monitor from varying angles. Since the camera is a grid of pixels, I can define the bounds of the monitor in the camera image as: I hope that makes sense. What I want to do is come up with an algorithm to…
bufferz
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Simplest way to calculate the intersect area of two rectangles

I have a problem where I have TWO NON-rotated rectangles (given as two point tuples {x1 x2 y1 y2}) and I like to calculate their intersect area. I have seen more general answers to this question, e.g. more rectangles or even rotated ones, and I was…
guinny
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Why are randomly drawn vectors nearly perpendicular in high dimensions

I am struggling understanding this finding. Can somebody explain intuitively why randomly drawn high-dimensional vectors will tend to be mutually orthogonal? I realize that intuition in high dimensions might be too much to ask for, still, an…
b87lar
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40
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How do I rotate a square around a circle?

I have a circle of radius r a square of length l The centre of the square is currently rotating around the circle in a path described by a circle of radius $(r + \frac{l}{2})$ However, the square overlaps the circle at e.g. 45°. I do not want the…
Justin Wong
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What is a hexagon?

Having a slight parenting anxiety attack and I hate teaching my son something incorrect. Wiktionary tells me that a Hexagon is a polygon with $6$ sides and $6$ angles. Why the $6$ angle requirement? This has me confused. Would the shape below be…
going
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Finding the coordinates of points from distance matrix

I have a set of points (with unknown coordinates) and the distance matrix. I need to find the coordinates of these points in order to plot them and show the solution of my algorithm. I can set one of these points in the coordinate (0,0) to simplify,…
BrunoB
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Why isn't the area of a square always greater than the length of one of its sides?

Intuitively, it seems like the area of a square should always be greater than the length of one of its sides because you can "fit" one of its sides in the space of its area, and still have room left over. However when the length of a side, $s$, is…
trynalearn
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