Scribd
Upload
99 views3 pages

Spherical Trigonometry: Reuleaux Triangle

 Spherical trigonometry deals with relationships between trigonometric functions of sides and angles of spherical polygons, especially triangles, defined by intersecting great circles on a sphere.  It is important for calculations in astronomy, geodesy, and navigation. The subject originated in Greek mathematics and developed further in Islamic mathematics and the early modern period.  The key concepts are spherical triangles defined by arcs of great circles, with notation for angles (A, B, C) and sides (a, b, c) of triangles. There are also rules for polar triangles and fundamental identities like the cosine and sine rules.

Uploaded by

Achandra
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
99 views3 pages

Spherical Trigonometry: Reuleaux Triangle

 Spherical trigonometry deals with relationships between trigonometric functions of sides and angles of spherical polygons, especially triangles, defined by intersecting great circles on a sphere.  It is important for calculations in astronomy, geodesy, and navigation. The subject originated in Greek mathematics and developed further in Islamic mathematics and the early modern period.  The key concepts are spherical triangles defined by arcs of great circles, with notation for angles (A, B, C) and sides (a, b, c) of triangles. There are also rules for polar triangles and fundamental identities like the cosine and sine rules.

Uploaded by

Achandra
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

Spherical trigonometry

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Jump to navigationJump to search
"Spherical triangle" redirects here. For triangles in the Euclidean plane with circular-arc sides,
see  Reuleaux triangle.
Spherical trigonometry is the branch of spherical geometry that deals with the relationships
between trigonometric functions of the sides and angles of the spherical polygons (especially spherical
triangles) defined by a number of intersecting great circles on the sphere. Spherical trigonometry is of
great importance for calculations in astronomy, geodesy, and navigation.
The origins of spherical trigonometry in Greek mathematics and the major developments in Islamic
mathematics are discussed fully in History of trigonometry and Mathematics in medieval Islam. The
subject came to fruition in Early Modern times with important developments by John
Napier, Delambre and others, and attained an essentially complete form by the end of the nineteenth
century with the publication of Todhunter's textbook Spherical trigonometry for the use of colleges and
Schools.[1] Since then, significant developments have been the application of vector methods, and the use
of numerical methods.
Spherical polygons[edit]
A spherical polygon is a polygon on the surface of the sphere defined by a number of great-circle arcs,
which are the intersection of the surface with planes through the centre of the sphere. Such polygons may
have any number of sides. Two planes define a lune, also called a "digon" or bi-angle, the two-sided
analogue of the triangle: a familiar example is the curved surface of a segment of an orange. Three
planes define a spherical triangle, the principal subject of this article. Four planes define a spherical
quadrilateral: such a figure, and higher sided polygons, can always be treated as a number of spherical
triangles.
One spherical polygon with interesting properties is the pentagramma mirificum, a spherical 5-sided star
polygon with all right angles.
From this point the article will be restricted to spherical triangles, denoted simply as triangles.
Notation[edit]

The basic triangle on a unit sphere.

 Both vertices and angles at the vertices are denoted by the same upper case letters A, B, and C.
 The angles A, B, C of the triangle are equal to the angles between the planes that intersect the
surface of the sphere or, equivalently, the angles between the tangent vectors of the great circle arcs
where they meet at the vertices. Angles are in radians. The angles of proper spherical triangles are
(by convention) less than π so that π < A + B + C < 3π. (Todhunter,[1] Art.22,32).
 The sides are denoted by lower-case letters a, b, and c. On the unit sphere their lengths are
numerically equal to the radian measure of the angles that the great circle arcs subtend at the centre.
The sides of proper spherical triangles are (by convention) less than π so that 0 < a + b + c < 2π.
(Todhunter,[1] Art.22,32).
 The radius of the sphere is taken as unity. For specific practical problems on a sphere of
radius R the measured lengths of the sides must be divided by R before using the identities given
below. Likewise, after a calculation on the unit sphere the sides a, b, c must be multiplied by R.
Polar triangles[edit]

The polar triangle A'B'C'


The polar triangle associated with a triangle ABC is defined as follows. Consider the great circle that
contains the side BC. This great circle is defined by the intersection of a diametral plane with the surface.
Draw the normal to that plane at the centre: it intersects the surface at two points and the point that is on
the same side of the plane as A is (conventionally) termed the pole of A and it is denoted by A'. The
points B' and C' are defined similarly.
The triangle A'B'C' is the polar triangle corresponding to triangle ABC. A very important theorem
(Todhunter,[1] Art.27) proves that the angles and sides of the polar triangle are given by
Therefore, if any identity is proved for the triangle ABC then we can immediately derive a second
identity by applying the first identity to the polar triangle by making the above substitutions. This is
how the supplemental cosine equations are derived from the cosine equations. Similarly, the
identities for a quadrantal triangle can be derived from those for a right-angled triangle. The polar
triangle of a polar triangle is the original triangle.

Cosine rules and sine rules[edit]


Cosine rules[edit]
Main article:  Spherical law of cosines
The cosine rule is the fundamental identity of spherical trigonometry: all other identities, including the
sine rule, may be derived from the cosine rule:
These identities approximate the cosine rule of plane trigonometry if the sides are much
smaller than the radius of the sphere. (On the unit sphere, if a, b, c << 1: set  and  etc.;
see Spherical law of cosines.)
Sine rules[edit]
Main article:  Spherical law of sines
The spherical law of sines is given by the formula
These identities approximate the sine rule of plane trigonometry when the sides are
much smaller than the radius of the sphere.
Derivation of the cosine rule[edit]
Main article:  Spherical law of cosines

The spherical cosine formulae were originally proved by elementary geometry and
the planar cosine rule (Todhunter,[1] Art.37). He also gives a derivation using simple
coordinate geometry and the planar cosine rule (Art.60). The approach outlined
here uses simpler vector methods. (These methods are also discussed at Spherical
law of cosines.)

You might also like