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Spherical Math

A spherical triangle is a triangle bounded by arcs of great circles on the surface of a sphere. The sum of the interior angles of a spherical triangle is greater than 180 degrees and less than 540 degrees. The area of a spherical triangle on a sphere of radius R is given by the formula A = πR^2E/180, where E is the spherical excess in degrees.

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Hanni Kim
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221 views3 pages

Spherical Math

A spherical triangle is a triangle bounded by arcs of great circles on the surface of a sphere. The sum of the interior angles of a spherical triangle is greater than 180 degrees and less than 540 degrees. The area of a spherical triangle on a sphere of radius R is given by the formula A = πR^2E/180, where E is the spherical excess in degrees.

Uploaded by

Hanni Kim
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Spherical Triangle

Any section made by a cutting plane that passes through a sphere is circle. A great circle is
formed when the cutting plane passes through the center of the sphere. Spherical triangle is a
triangle bounded by arc of great circles of a sphere.

Note that for spherical triangles, sides a, b, and c are usually in angular units. And like plane
triangles, angles A, B, and C are also in angular units.

Sum of interior angles of spherical triangle


The sum of the interior angles of a spherical triangle is greater than 180° and less than 540°.
180∘<(A+B+C)<540∘180∘<(�+�+�)<540∘

Area of spherical triangle


The area of a spherical triangle on the surface of the sphere of radius R is given by the formula
A=πR2E180∘�=��2�180∘
Where E is the spherical excess in degrees.

Spherical excess
E=A+B+C−180∘�=�+�+�−180∘
or
tan14E=tan12s tan12(s−a) tan12(s−b) tan12(s−c)−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
−−−−−−−−−−√tan⁡14�=tan⁡12� tan⁡12(�−�) tan⁡12(�−�) tan⁡12(�−�)
Where s=12(a+b+c)�=12(�+�+�)

Spherical defect
D=360∘−(a+b+c)�=360∘−(�+�+�)

Note:
In spherical trigonometry, earth is assumed to be a perfect sphere. One minute (0° 1') of arc from
the center of the earth has a distance equivalent to one (1) nautical mile (6080 feet) on the arc of
great circle on the surface of the earth.
1 minute of arc = 1 nautical mile
1 nautical mile = 6080 feet
1 statute mile = 5280 feet
1 knot = 1 nautical mile per hour

Tags:
great circle
spherical triangle
spherical excess
nautical mile
spherical defect

• Right Spherical Triangle


▪ Oblique Spherical Triangle
▪ Area of a spherical triangle with given interior angles
▪ Longitude of an airplane crossing the equator
Some Facts About Similar Figures
I encourage you to add something to this list. Click the "Add new comment" link below
to write your idea.
• Regular polygons of the same kind are all similar.
• All circles are similar.
• All squares are similar.
• All equilateral triangles are similar.
• Two isosceles triangles are only similar if they have equal vertex angle.
• Right circular cones are similar if they have equal vertex angle.
• If the central angle of two circular sectors are equal, they are similar

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