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parallel postulate – supplemental angles
parallel postulate
The 5th postulate of Euclidean geometry.
perpendicular
Two lines are perpendicular if they intersect in a right angle. In particular, two lines in the Cartesian plane are perpendicular if their respective slopes m1 and m2 satisfy m 1 × m2 = –1.
Two curves intersect perpendicularly if their tangent lines at the point of intersection are perpendicular.
Perpendicularity of planes and surfaces is defined analogously. Cf. normal.
perpendicular distance
Geometry: The shortest distance between a point and a line, or between a point and a plane. Sometimes called directed distance.
Pi (p)
The real number that is equal to the ratio of the circumference of any circle to its diameter, approximately equal to 3.1415926. It is known to be a transcendental number.
plane figure
A figure, i.e., a graphical (visual) representation of points, lines, curves, or regions in the geometric plane. A plane figure, such as a polygon, that bounds a finite region is called closed.
Platonic solid
ARTICLE
A solid having congruent, regular polygonal faces. There are five Platonic solids: the icosahedron, tetrahedron, octahedron, dodecahedron, and cube.
polygon
A closed plane figure having straight sides. A polygon that has equal sides and equal angles is called a regular polygon. Examples: square, hexagon, nonagon, etc.
polyhedron
A closed, solid figure consisting of four or more planar faces, pairs of which meet at edges. The faces form polygons, and the points where three or more edges meet are called vertices. The number of faces, edges, and vertices of a polyhedron are related by the Euler polyhedron formula.
A polyhedron with four faces is called a tetrahedron, a pentahedron has five faces, a hexadron six, a heptahedron seven, an octahedron eight, a dodecahedron twelve, and an icosahedron twenty. If all the faces of a polyhedron are congruent, it is called a regular solid or Platonic solid.
Pythagorean theorem
In Euclidean geometry, the sum of the areas of the squares on the legs of any right triangle is equal to the area of the square on the hypotenuse. This is arguably the most important theorem of classical mathematics, and perhaps of all time.
Pythagorean triple
An ordered triple (a,b,c) of natural numbers satisfying a2 + b2 = c2. The triples (3,4,5) and (5,12,13) are the first of infinitely many examples.
quadrilateral
A closed, plane figure with four straight sides.
Cf. polygon.
radian
A dimensionless unit of measure of angles. An angle of one radian is given by the central angle of a circle subtending an arc of length equal to the radius of the circle. Consequently, 360 degrees is the same as 2p radians. See the related article for a more extensive exposition.
Related article: Trig Functions and Identities
regular polygon
A polygon all of whose sides are equal in length and all of whose interior angles are equal.
regular solid
A polyhedron having congruent faces, which are themselves regular polygons. Also called Platonic solid.
Related article: Platonic Solids
right angle
An angle of 90 degrees (p/2 radians). Equivalently, it can be said that two right angles are supplemental angles, i.e., they add up to a straight line (180 degrees or p radians).
Cf. complementary angles, acute, obtuse.
scalene
A triangle is called scalene if all of its sides are unequal (equivalently, if all of its angles are unequal).
similar
Graph Theory: Two vertices or edges of a graph are called similar if there is an automorphism of the graph that takes one to the other.
slope
A line in the Cartesian plane which passes through two points (x 1, y 1) and (x 2, y 2) has a slope m given by
The slope may easily be remembered as “rise over run.” It is evident that the slope of a horizontal line is 0, and the slope of a vertical line is undefined.
Cf. linear function.
sphere
A closed surface, all points of which are equidistant from a given point, called the center.
In 3-dimensional Euclidean space, the equation of a sphere of radius r and center (h, j, k) is
The term sphere may also refer to the solid bounded by this surface, and the interior is then called the open sphere of radius r.
More generally, a sphere may be defined as the set of points in n-dimensional space (or any metric space) equidistant from a given point. The unit sphere in n-dimensional space is typically denoted S n - 1. Thus, the unit sphere in ordinary 3-space is denoted S2, and the unit circle in the plane is denoted S1.
square
A regular polygon having four equal sides and four right angles.
supplemental angles
Two angles are supplemental if they add up to 180 degrees (p radians).
Cf. complementary angles.
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