Undefined Shapes?

shrek

What are shapes which dont have names? An example is a something that looks trianguler but has curved lines.

Reply 1

TSR Community Staff

shrek

What are shapes which dont have names? An example is a something that looks trianguler but has curved lines.

They will have names, only most people will be unfamiliar with the technical names.

For example, the triangle shape you are taking about may be called a Reuleaux triangle if it is based on an equilateral triangle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuleaux_polygon

The curves going the other way (concave instead of convex when compared to the starting triangle) may be called a deltoid:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deltoid_%28curve%29

Reply 2

Esquire

Something undefined is something undefined. Chances are though, it's defined.

Reply 3

shrek

Thanks, but are there not an infinity of shapes so can they all have names?

Reply 4

TSR Community Staff

shrek

Thanks, but are there not an infinity of shapes so can they all have names?

There will be infinite different shapes, with varying angles, lengths of sides, amount of curvature to their sides and loads of other things which make then different from each other.

However, a name will generally apply to a whole class (possibly infinite itself) of shapes which are identical in most respects except one or two properties.

For example, the name square doesn't refer to a single shape, but a whole class of shapes which have 4 equal sides and 4 right angles. The difference between each shape in this category is actual length of the side. What ever that length of the side (provided it is greater than zero), the shape will be a square.

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