Eleven properties of the sphere[edit]

A normal vector to a sphere, a normal plane and its normal section. The curvature of the curve of intersection is
the sectional curvature. For the sphere each normal section through a given point will be a circle of the same
radius: the radius of the sphere. This means that every point on the sphere will be an umbilical point.

In their book Geometry and the Imagination[17] David Hilbert and Stephan Cohn-Vossen describe

eleven properties of the sphere and discuss whether these properties uniquely determine the
sphere. Several properties hold for the plane, which can be thought of as a sphere with infinite
radius. These properties are:
1. The points on the sphere are all the same distance from a fixed point. Also, the ratio of the
distance of its points from two fixed points is constant.
The first part is the usual definition of the sphere and determines it uniquely. The second part
can be easily deduced and follows a similar result of Apollonius of Perga for the circle. This
second part also holds for the plane.
2. The contours and plane sections of the sphere are circles.
This property defines the sphere uniquely.
3. The sphere has constant width and constant girth.
The width of a surface is the distance between pairs of parallel tangent planes. Numerous
other closed convex surfaces have constant width, for example the Meissner body. The girth
of a surface is the circumference of the boundary of its orthogonal projection on to a plane.
Each of these properties implies the other.
4. All points of a sphere are umbilics.
At any point on a surface a normal direction is at right angles to the surface because the
sphere these are the lines radiating out from the center of the sphere. The intersection of a
plane that contains the normal with the surface will form a curve that is called a normal
section, and the curvature of this curve is the normal curvature. For most points on most
surfaces, different sections will have different curvatures; the maximum and minimum values
of these are called the principal curvatures. Any closed surface will have at least four points
called umbilical points. At an umbilic all the sectional curvatures are equal; in particular
the principal curvatures are equal. Umbilical points can be thought of as the points where the
surface is closely approximated by a sphere.
 For the sphere the curvatures of all normal sections are equal, so every point is an umbilic.
The sphere and plane are the only surfaces with this property.
5. The sphere does not have a surface of centers.
For a given normal section exists a circle of curvature that equals the sectional curvature, is
tangent to the surface, and the center lines of which lie along on the normal line. For
example, the two centers corresponding to the maximum and minimum sectional curvatures
are called the focal points, and the set of all such centers forms the focal surface.
For most surfaces the focal surface forms two sheets that are each a surface and meet at
umbilical points. Several cases are special:
* For channel surfaces one sheet forms a curve and the other sheet is a surface
* For cones, cylinders, tori and cyclides both sheets form curves.
* For the sphere the center of every osculating circle is at the center of the sphere and the
focal surface forms a single point. This property is unique to the sphere.
6. All geodesics of the sphere are closed curves.
Geodesics are curves on a surface that give the shortest distance between two points. They
are a generalization of the concept of a straight line in the plane. For the sphere the
geodesics are great circles. Many other surfaces share this property.
7. Of all the solids having a given volume, the sphere is the one with the smallest surface area;
of all solids having a given surface area, the sphere is the one having the greatest volume.
It follows from isoperimetric inequality. These properties define the sphere uniquely and can
be seen in soap bubbles: a soap bubble will enclose a fixed volume, and surface
tension minimizes its surface area for that volume. A freely floating soap bubble therefore
approximates a sphere (though such external forces as gravity will slightly distort the
bubble's shape). It can also be seen in planets and stars where gravity minimizes surface
area for large celestial bodies.
8. The sphere has the smallest total mean curvature among all convex solids with a given
surface area.
The mean curvature is the average of the two principal curvatures, which is constant
because the two principal curvatures are constant at all points of the sphere.
9. The sphere has constant mean curvature.
The sphere is the only imbedded surface that lacks boundary or singularities with constant
positive mean curvature. Other such immersed surfaces as minimal surfaces have constant
mean curvature.
10. The sphere has constant positive Gaussian curvature.
Gaussian curvature is the product of the two principal curvatures. It is an intrinsic property
that can be determined by measuring length and angles and is independent of how the
surface is embedded in space. Hence, bending a surface will not alter the Gaussian
curvature, and other surfaces with constant positive Gaussian curvature can be obtained by
cutting a small slit in the sphere and bending it. All these other surfaces would have
boundaries, and the sphere is the only surface that lacks a boundary with constant, positive
Gaussian curvature. The pseudosphere is an example of a surface with constant negative
Gaussian curvature.
11. The sphere is transformed into itself by a three-parameter family of rigid motions.
Rotating around any axis a unit sphere at the origin will map the sphere onto itself. Any
rotation about a line through the origin can be expressed as a combination of rotations
around the three-coordinate axis (see Euler angles). Therefore, a three-parameter family of
rotations exists such that each rotation transforms the sphere onto itself; this family is
the rotation group SO(3). The plane is the only other surface with a three-parameter family of
 transformations (translations along the x- and y-axes and rotations around the origin).
Circular cylinders are the only surfaces with two-parameter families of rigid motions and
the surfaces of revolution and helicoids are the only surfaces with a one-parameter family.

phere
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search

This article is about the concept in three-dimensional geometry. For other uses, see Sphere
(disambiguation).
"Globose" redirects here. For the neuroanatomic structure, see Globose nucleus.

A two-dimensional perspective projection of a sphere

A sphere (from Greek σφαῖρα—sphaira, "globe, ball"[1]) is a geometrical object in three-

dimensional space that is the surface of a ball (viz., analogous to the circular objects in
two dimensions, where a "circle" circumscribes its "disk").
Like a circle in a two-dimensional space, a sphere is defined mathematically as the set
of points that are all at the same distance r from a given point in a three-dimensional
space.[2] This distance r is the radius of the ball, which is made up from all points with a
distance less than (or, for a closed ball, less than or equal to) r from the given point,
which is the center of the mathematical ball. These are also referred to as the radius
and center of the sphere, respectively. The longest straight line segment through the
ball, connecting two points of the sphere, passes through the center and its length is
thus twice the radius; it is a diameter of both the sphere and its ball.
While outside mathematics the terms "sphere" and "ball" are sometimes used
interchangeably, in mathematics the above distinction is made between a sphere, which
is a two-dimensional closed surface embedded in a three-dimensional Euclidean space,
and a ball, which is a three-dimensional shape that includes the sphere and
 everything inside the sphere (a closed ball), or, more often, just the points inside,
but not on the sphere (an open ball). The distinction between ball and sphere has not
always been maintained and especially older mathematical references talk about a
sphere as a solid. This is analogous to the situation in the plane, where the terms
"circle" and "disk" can also be confounded.

Contents

 1Equations in three-dimensional space

 2Enclosed volume
 3Surface area
 4Curves on a sphere
o 4.1Circles
o 4.2Clelia curves
o 4.3Loxodrome
o 4.4Intersection of a sphere with a more general surface
 5Geometric properties
o 5.1Pencil of spheres
 6Terminology
o 6.1Plane sections
o 6.2Branches of geometry
 6.2.1Non-Euclidean distance
 6.2.2Differential geometry
 6.2.3Projective geometry
o 6.3Geography
 6.3.1Poles, longitude and latitudes
 7Generalizations
o 7.1Dimensionality
o 7.2Metric spaces
 8Topology
 9Spherical geometry
 10Eleven properties of the sphere
 11Gallery
 12Regions
 13See also
 14Notes and references
o 14.1Notes
o 14.2References
o 14.3Further reading
 15External links

Equations in three-dimensional space[edit]

Two orthogonal radii of a sphere

See also: trigonometric function and spherical coordinates

In analytic geometry, a sphere with center (x0, y0, z0) and radius r is the locus of all
points (x, y, z) such that
Let a, b, c, d, e be real numbers with a ≠ 0 and put
Then the equation
has no real points as solutions if  and is called the equation of an imaginary
sphere. If , the only solution of  is the point  and the equation is said to be
the equation of a point sphere. Finally, in the case ,  is an equation of a
sphere whose center is  and whose radius is .[2]
If a in the above equation is zero then f(x, y, z) = 0 is the equation of a plane.
Thus, a plane may be thought of as a sphere of infinite radius whose center
is a point at infinity.[3]
The points on the sphere with radius  and center  can be parameterized via
[4]

The parameter  can be associated with the angle counted positive from

the direction of the positive z-axis through the center to the radius-vector,
and the parameter  can be associated with the angle counted positive
from the direction of the positive x-axis through the center to the
projection of the radius-vector on the xy-plane.
A sphere of any radius centered at zero is an integral surface of the
following differential form:
This equation reflects that position and velocity vectors of a
point, (x, y, z) and (dx, dy, dz), traveling on the sphere are
always orthogonal to each other.
A sphere can also be constructed as the surface formed by rotating
a circle about any of its diameters. Since a circle is a special type
of ellipse, a sphere is a special type of ellipsoid of revolution.
 Replacing the circle with an ellipse rotated about its major axis, the
shape becomes a prolate spheroid; rotated about the minor axis, an
oblate spheroid.[5]

Enclosed volume[edit]

Sphere and circumscribed cylinder

In three dimensions, the volume inside a sphere (that is, the volume

of a ball, but classically referred to as the volume of a sphere) is
where r is the radius and d is the diameter of the
sphere. Archimedes first derived this formula by showing that the
volume inside a sphere is twice the volume between the sphere
and the circumscribed cylinder of that sphere (having the height
and diameter equal to the diameter of the sphere). [6] This may be
proved by inscribing a cone upside down into semi-sphere, noting
that the area of a cross section of the cone plus the area of a
cross section of the sphere is the same as the area of the cross
section of the circumscribing cylinder, and applying Cavalieri's
principle.[7] This formula can also be derived using integral
calculus, i.e. disk integration to sum the volumes of an infinite
number of circular disks of infinitesimally small thickness stacked
side by side and centered along the x-axis from x = −r to x = r,
assuming the sphere of radius r is centered at the origin.
At any given x, the incremental volume (δV) equals the product of
the cross-sectional area of the disk at x and its thickness (δx):
The total volume is the summation of all incremental volumes:
In the limit as δx approaches zero,[8] this equation becomes:
At any given x, a right-angled triangle connects x, y and r to the origin; hence, applying
the Pythagorean theorem yields:
Using this substitution gives
which can be evaluated to give the result
An alternative formula is foundusing spherical coordinates, with volume element
so
For most practical purposes, the volume inside a sphere inscribed in a cube can be
approximated as 52.4% of the volume of the cube, since V = π/6  d3, where d is the
diameter of the sphere and also the length of a side of the cube and π/6  ≈ 0.5236. For
example, a sphere with diameter 1 m has 52.4% the volume of a cube with edge length
1 m, or about 0.524 m3.

Surface area[edit]The surface area of a sphere of

radius r is:
Archimedes first derived this formula[9] from the fact that the projection to the lateral
surface of a circumscribed cylinder is area-preserving.[10] Another approach to obtaining
the formula comes from the fact that it equals the derivative of the formula for the volume
with respect to r because the total volume inside a sphere of radius r can be thought of
as the summation of the surface area of an infinite number of spherical shells of
infinitesimal thickness concentrically stacked inside one another from radius 0 to
radius r. At infinitesimal thickness the discrepancy between the inner and outer surface
area of any given shell is infinitesimal, and the elemental volume at radius r is simply the
product of the surface area at radius r and the infinitesimal thickness.At any given
radius r,[note 1] the incremental volume (δV) equals the product of the surface area at
radius r (A(r)) and the thickness of a shell (δr):
The total volume is the summation of all shell volumes:
In the limit as δr approaches zero[8] this equation becomes:
Substitute V:
Differentiating both sides of this equation with respect to r yields A as a function of r:
This is generally abbreviated as:
where r is now considered to be the fixed radius of the sphere.Alternatively, the area
element on the sphere is given in spherical coordinates by dA = r2 sin θ dθ dφ.
In Cartesian coordinates, the area element is[citation needed]
The total area can thus be obtained by integration:
The sphere has the smallest surface area of all surfaces that enclose a given volume,
and it encloses the largest volume among all closed surfaces with a given surface area.
[11]
 The sphere therefore appears in nature: for example, bubbles and small water drops
are roughly spherical because the surface tension locally minimizes surface area.The
surface area relative to the mass of a ball is called the specific surface area and can be
expressed from the above stated equations as
where ρ is the density (the ratio of mass to volume).Curves on a sphere[edit]

Plane section of a sphere: 1 circle

Coaxial intersection of a sphere and a cylinder: 2

circleCircles[edit]The intersection of a sphere and a plane is a circle, a point or
empty.In case of a circle the circle can described by a parametric equation : see plane
section of an ellipsoid But more complicated surfaces may intersect a sphere in circles,
too:A non empty intersection of a sphere with a surface of revolution, whose axis
contains the center of the sphere (are coaxial) consists of circles and/or points.The
diagram shows the case, where the intersection of a cylinder and a sphere consists of
two circles. Would the cylinder radius be equal to the sphere's radius, the intersection
would be one circle, where both surfaces are tange In case of an spheroid with the same
center and major axis as the sphere, the intersection would consist of two points
(vertices), where the surfaces are tangent.Clelia curves[edit]

spherical spiral with If the sphere is described by a

parametric representation
one gets Clelia curves, if the angles are connected by the equation

 ((
Lo
xo
dro
me

In 
na
vi
ga
tio
n,
a 
rh
u
m
b
lin
e 
or 
lo
xo
dr
o
m
e i
s
an
ar
c
cr
os
si
ng
all 
m
eri
di
an
s 
of 
lo
ng
itu
de 
at
th
e
sa
m
e
an
gl
e.
A
rh
u
m
b
lin
e
is
no
ta
sp
he
ric
al
sp
ira
l.
Th
er
e
is
no
si
m
pl
e
co
nn
ec
tio
n
be
tw
ee
n
th
e
an
gl
es 
 
an
d .
In
te
rs
e
ct
io
n
of
a
s
p
h
er
e
w
it
h
a
m
o
re
g
e
n
er
al
s
u
rf
a
Ge
ner
al
int
ers
ect
ion
sp
her
e-
cyli
nd
er

If
a
sp
he
re
is
int
er
se
ct
ed
by
an
ot
he
r
su
rfa
ce
,
th
er
e
m
ay
be
m
or
e
co
m
pli
ca
te
d
sp
he
ric
al
cu
rv
es
.
E
xa
m
pl
e:
sp
he
re
–
cy
lin
de
r
Th
e
int
er
se
cti
on
of
th
e
sp
he
re
wi
th
eq
ua
tio
n 
 
an
d
th
e
cy
lin
de
r
wi
th
eq
ua
tio
n 
 is
no
t
ju
st
on
e
or
tw
o
cir
cl
es
. It
is
th
e
so
lut
io
n
of
th
e
no
n
lin
ea
r
sy
st
e
m
of
eq
ua
tio
ns
(see impli
cit
curve an
d the
diagram)
Geom
etric
prope
rties[ed
it]
A sphere
is
uniquely
determin
ed by
four
points
that are
not copla
nar. More
generally,
a sphere
is
uniquely
determin
ed by
four
condition
s such as
passing
through a
point,
being
tangent
to a
plane,
etc.[12] Thi
s
property
is
analogou
s to the
property
that
three non
-collinear 
points
determin
ea
unique
circle in a
plane.
Consequ
ently, a
sphere is
uniquely
determin
ed by
(that is,
passes
through)
a circle
and a
point not
in the
plane of
that
circle.
By
examinin
g
the com
mon
solutions
of the
equations
of two
spheres,
it can be
seen that
two
spheres
intersect
in a circle
and the
plane
containin
g that
circle is
called
the radic
al
plane of
the
intersecti
ng
spheres.
[13]
 Althoug
h the
radical
plane is a
real
plane,
the circle
may be
imaginary
(the
spheres
have no
real point
in
common)
or consist
of a
single
point (the
spheres
are
tangent
at that
point).[14]
The
angle
between
two
spheres
at a real
point of
intersecti
on is
the dihed
ral
angle det
ermined
by the
tangent
planes to
the
spheres
at that
point.
Two
spheres
intersect
at the
same
angle at
all points
of their
circle of
intersecti
on.[15] The
y
intersect
at right
angles
(are ortho
gonal) if
and only
if the
square of
the
distance
between
their
centers is
equal to
the sum
of the
squares
of their
radii.[3]
Pencil
of
sphere
s[edit]
Main
article: Pe
ncil
(mathema
tics)
§  Pencil
of spheres

If f(x, y, z)
=
0 and g(x, 
y, z) =
0 are the
equations
of two
distinct
spheres
then
is also the
equation of a
sphere for
arbitrary
values of the
parameters s 
and t. The
set of all
spheres
satisfying
this equation
is called
a pencil of
spheres det
ermined by
the original
two spheres.
In this
definition a
sphere is
allowed to be
a plane
(infinite
radius,
center at
infinity) and if
both the
original
spheres are
planes then
all the
spheres of
the pencil
are planes,
otherwise
there is only
one plane
(the radical
plane) in the
pencil.[3]

Termino
logy[edit]
Plane
sections[e
dit]
A great
circle on the
sphere has
the same
center and
radius as the
sphere—
consequently
dividing it
into two
equal parts.
The plane
sections of a
sphere are
called spheri
c sections—
which are
either great
circles for
planes
through the
sphere's
center
or small
circles for all
others.[16]
Any plane
that includes
the center of
a sphere
divides it into
two
equal hemis
pheres. Any
two
intersecting
planes that
include the
center of a
sphere
subdivide the
sphere into
four lunes or
biangles, the
vertices of
which
coincide with
the antipodal
points lying
on the line of
intersection
of the
planes.
Branches
of
geometry[
edit]
Non-
Euclidean
distance[edit]
Any pair of
points on a
sphere that
lie on a
straight line
through the
sphere's
center (i.e.
the diameter)
are
called antipo
dal points—
on the
sphere, the
distance
between
them is
exactly half
the length of
the
circumferenc
e.[note 2] Any
other (i.e. not
antipodal)
pair of
distinct
points on a
sphere

 lie on a
unique
great
circle,
 segment it
into one
minor (i.e.
shorter)
and one
major (i.e.
longer) arc
, and
 have the
minor arc's
length be
the shorte
st
distance b
etween
them on
the sphere.
[note 3]

Spherical
geometry[note
4]
 shares
many
analogous
properties
to Euclidean 
once
equipped
with this
"great-circle
distance".
Differential
geometry[edit
]
And a much
more abstrac
t
generalizatio
n of
geometry als
o uses the
same
distance
concept in
the Riemanni
an circle.
The
hemisphere
is conjecture
d to be the
optimal (least
area)
isometric
filling of
the Riemanni
an circle.
Projective
geometry[edit
]
The
antipodal
quotient of
the sphere is
the surface
called
the real
projective
plane, which
can also be
thought of as
the northern
hemisphere 
with
antipodal
points of the
equator
identified.
Geograph
y[edit]
Terms
borrowed
directly from
geography of
the Earth,
despite
its spheroidal 
shape having
greater or
lesser
departures
from a
perfect
sphere
(see geoid),
are widely
well-
understood.
In geometry
unrelated to
astronomical
bodies,
geocentric
terminology
should be
used only for
illustration
and noted as
such, unless
there is no
chance of
misundersta
nding.
Poles,
longitude and
latitudes[edit]
If a particular
point on a
sphere is
(arbitrarily)
designated
as its north
pole, its
antipodal
point is
called
the south
pole. The
great circle
equidistant to
each is then
the equator.
Great circles
through the
poles are
called lines
of longitude (
or meridians)
. A line not
on the
sphere but
through its
center
connecting
the two
poles may be
called
the axis of
rotation.
Circles on
the sphere
that are
parallel (i.e.
not great
circles) to the
equator are
lines
of latitude.