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Spherical geometry or spherics (from Ancient Greek σφαιρικά) is the geometry of the two- dimensional surface of a sphere [ a ] or the n -dimensional surface of higher dimensional spheres. Long studied for its practical applications to astronomy, navigation, and geodesy, spherical geometry and the metrical tools of spherical trigonometry ...
Spherical trigonometry is the branch of spherical geometry that deals with the metrical relationships between the sides and angles of spherical triangles, traditionally expressed using trigonometric functions. On the sphere, geodesics are great circles. Spherical trigonometry is of great importance for calculations in astronomy, geodesy, and ...
In spherical trigonometry, the law of cosines (also called the cosine rule for sides[ 1 ]) is a theorem relating the sides and angles of spherical triangles, analogous to the ordinary law of cosines from plane trigonometry. Spherical triangle solved by the law of cosines. Given a unit sphere, a "spherical triangle" on the surface of the sphere ...
This is the convention followed in this article. In mathematics, a spherical coordinate system is a coordinate system for three-dimensional space where the position of a given point in space is specified by three real numbers: the radial distance r along the radial line connecting the point to the fixed point of origin; the polar angle θ ...
The intersection of a sphere with an elliptic or hyperbolic cylinder whose axis passes through the sphere center. The locus of points whose sum or difference of great-circle distances from a pair of foci is a constant. Many theorems relating to planar conic sections also extend to spherical conics.
Noting that sin ( π 2 − φ) = cos (φ), the haversine formula immediately follows. To derive the law of haversines, one starts with the spherical law of cosines: As mentioned above, this formula is an ill-conditioned way of solving for c when c is small. Instead, we substitute the identity that cos (θ) = 1 − 2 hav (θ), and also ...
The Spherics (Greek: τὰ σφαιρικά, tà sphairiká) is a three-volume treatise on spherical geometry written by the Hellenistic mathematician Theodosius of Bithynia in the 2nd or 1st century BC. Book I and the first half of Book II establish basic geometric constructions needed for spherical geometry using the tools of Euclidean solid ...
Spherical triangle solved by the law of cosines. Versions similar to the law of cosines for the Euclidean plane also hold on a unit sphere and in a hyperbolic plane. In spherical geometry, a triangle is defined by three points u, v, and w on the unit sphere, and the arcs of great circles connecting those points.