Homework4SphereandTriangleExploration

RoxanaTinoco

Part1Spheres

1. SaintPetersburg,RussiaandAnchorage,Alaska,bothhaveapproximatelythesame
latitudeof60degrees.ThatmeansyoucanreachSaintPetersburgfromAnchorageby
flyingdirectlyeast,ordirectlywest.Assumetheearthisasphereofradius6371km.
(a.)Byheadingdirectlyeast,whatisthedistancefromAnchorage(longitude150degreesW)to
SaintPetersburg(longitude30degreesE)?


(b).WhatisthelengthoftheshortestpathfromAnchoragetoSaintPetersburg?
Aftertalkinginclassaboutgreatcirclesandstatingthattheshortestdistancebetween
pointsonaspherelieongreatcirclestheshortestpathfromAnchorage,AlaskatoSaint
Petersburg,Russiaisapaththatlieonagreatcircle,butbothcitiesmustlieinthe
samegreatcircle.

2.TherearethreehighschoolinIdealCity.Rooseveltat(2,1)
pointA
,Franklinat(3,3)
point
B
andJeffersonat(6,1)
pointC
.Drawinschooldistrictsboundariessothateachstudentin
IdealCityattendstheschoolclosesttothem.

TheWayIapproachedthisproblemwasIfirstthoughtofputtingthepointsA,B,andC,
thenconnectthemandfindtheirmidpoint.PointsD,E,andF,arethemidpointsoftheline
segments.IdecidedtothendrawtwocirclesfromeachpointpointsA,B,andC.Theinner
circlesaretheboundariesforthestudentsthatareMUSTattendthatschool.Theoutercircles

overlapothercirclesandotherdistricts,sowithinthesecirclesstudentshaveachoiceofwhich
schooltoattend.

Part2
1. Createavenndiagram
Myown

(d.)Writeaprecisedefinitionofallterms.
Definitions:
Triangle:
Threepointsonaplaneinwhichtwostraightlinesegmentsintersectatapoint,
ultimatelyformingatriangle.
Scalene:
Atriangleformedbythreelinesegmentswhoseinneranglesarealldifferent,andall
sidesdifferinlength.
Isosceles:
Triangleformedbythreelinesegments,andtwosidesofthetriangleaswellastwo
innerangleshavethesamelengthandanglesize.

Equilateral:
Triangleformedbythreelinesegmentsthathasallthreeinneranglesandsidesthe
sameangleandlength.
Acute:
Trianglethathasallthreeinnerangleslessthan90degrees.
Right:
Trianglethathasoneanglethatisexactly90degrees.
Obtuse:
Trianglethathasoneanglemorethan90degrees,andwhoseanglesaddupto180
degrees.

(e.)Drawanexampleofeach.

2.DrawsomeexamplesoftrianglesinGeogebra.Whatarethedifferencesyounoticebetween
trianglesinthesphereandintheplane?

Equilateralandacute.

Scaleneandobtuse.

Isoscelesandright.

Thereexisttrianglesinasphere,buttheyredefinitionchangesastowhentherearetriangleson
aplane.Thetypesoftrianglesthatexistinspheresareisosceles,equilateralandperhapsright
triangles.Forexampleonasphereanequilateraltrianglecouldexist,butallofitsangleswould
be90degrees,makingitarightequilateraltriangle,insteadofaregularacuteequilateral.A
scalenetrianglecouldpossiblyexist,butitiscomplicatedtoattempttomakeononatennisball
andrubberbands.Also,onaEuclideanplaneusingthreelinesonlyonetrianglewouldbe
formed.Whereas,onasphereusingthreegreatcirclesmorethanonetrianglecouldpossiblybe
formed.

3.Dothreepointsonagreatcirclesatisfyyourdefinitionofatriangle?Giventhreepointsonthe
sphere,howmanytriangleshavethosepointsasvertices?Doesitdependonthechoiceof
points?
Yes,mydefinitionofatrianglewouldstillmakeatriangleonagreatcirclebecause
eventually
any
threepointsonagreatcirclewouldmakeothergreatcircles,andforma
triangle.Inaddition,selectingthreepointsononegreatcirclecangenerateatriangle,but
inorderittoworktwopointsmustbeonthesamesidewhereasthethirdpointwould
havetobeontheothersideofthegreatcircle,moreorlessanisoscelestrianglewouldbe
formedwiththeserestrictions.Ifanythreerandompointsarechosen,threegreatcircles
wouldbeformed,andmorethanonetrianglewillbeformed.(experimentdoneinclass
withtennisballandrubberbands.)

4.Ontheplanetwopointsuniquelydeterminealinesegment.Thatisnotthecaseonthesphere.
Thismeanswecouldhaveatwosidedpolygon?Whatdothoselooklike?Dotheyqualifyas
trianglesinyourdefinition?
Sincewearetalkingaboutspheres,itispossibletohaveatwosidedpolygonwhich
wouldultimatelybealinesegmentatanypointofthesphere,andbasicallygoallaround

thesphereuntiltheendpointsofthelinesegmentreachthesameendpoint.

Asyoucanseeontheimageabove,itsaysthatonesideisside1whiletheotherisside
2andthelinesegmentbeinginthemiddle.Atwosidedpolygonwouldbasicallybeaone
sidedpolygon,butisthatevenpossible?Ifyouthinkaboutityes.Bylookingatthe
imageaboveandfocusingonside1,thatsidewouldextendandgoaroundthesphereand
endatthesamepointwhereitstarted,anditwouldstillbeside1notside2.Bylooking
atitfromotherperspectives,wecouldsaythatthepolygonhastwosidesbecausea
linesegmenthastwosidestoporbottomiflookingatithorizontally,orleftandright
lookingatitvertically.Sinceasphereisround,alinesegmentonaspherewouldhaveto
have1side,sincethestartingpointwouldbetheendpointaswell.

Anotherpossibletwosidedpolygon:(pictureshownbelow).

Thisisatwosidedpolygonwhoseinneranglesaddupto180degrees.Inthe

lessonsketchactivityIstatedthatthisfigurewouldfitthetriangledefinitiononly
because
theinneranglesofthefigureaddupto180degreesjustlikeinatriangle,butthefactthat
thisfigureonlyhastwosidesitdoesnotfitintothedefinitionbecauseatriangleconsists
ofthreelines.

5.Doesthevenndiagramyoumadeaboveworkforclassifyingtrianglesonthesphere?Canyou
makeanexampleonthespherelikeyoudidforeachcategoryabove?Ifyourvenndiagram
doesntwork,whynot?Whatnewcategoriesarethere?

Afterexperimentingwithtennisballsandrubberbandsinclass,theclassasawhole
madesomeconclusions.Theclassconcludedthataisosceles,obtuse,equilateral,and
perhapsrighttrianglesarepossibleonspheres.Theclassagreedthatallequilateral
triangleswouldberightequilateraltriangles,meaningallinnerangleswouldbe90
degrees.Also,meaningthatthetotalsumoftheinneranglesinarightequilateraltriangle
be270degreesinsteadof180degrees.Therefore,thedefinitionofarighttriangleona
planewouldchangeinasphere.Arighttriangleonaplaneonlyhasoneanglebeing90
degrees,whereasinasphereallthreeanglesofatriangleare90degrees.Afterplaying
somemorewiththetennisballandtherubberbands,ourgroupaswellasothergroups
wereabletocreateanobtuseangleonasphere.Similartoarightequilateral,andobtuse
wouldhaveallthreeanglesbeingobtuse.Anexampleofanobtuseanglethattheclass
cameupwithwas:95+105+100=300.Again,thedefinitionofanobtusetriangle
changesinaplanetoasphere.Onasphereanobtusetrianglewouldalsohaveallthree
anglesbeingobtuse.Therefore,thesumoftheanglesintrianglesonaspherevary,there
isnofixnumberInconclusion,no,thevenndiagramImadedoesnotworkfor
classifyingtrianglesonspheres.Afterdiscussinginclassthethenewvenndiagramfor
trianglesonsphereswoulddiffer.Diagramshownbelow.