spherical triangle

American  

noun

Geometry.

1. a triangle formed by arcs of great circles of a sphere.

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spherical triangle British  

noun

1. a closed geometric figure formed on the surface of a sphere that is bounded by arcs of three great circles

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Etymology

Origin of spherical triangle

First recorded in 1575–85

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spherical triangle

In a spherical triangle the sum of the angles is greater than 180 degrees, and in a triangle drawn on a saddle surface it is less.

From Scientific American ● Mar. 4, 2011

Thus we might have a spherical triangle that is concave, with its base 359°, and its other two sides each 90°, the sum of the sides being 539°.

From The Teaching of Geometry by David Eugene Smith

The Piers have occasionally, in the earlier examples, detached shafts; but they more usually consist of a solid mass of engaged shafts, separated by hollow mouldings, and disposed on the plan of a spherical triangle.

From The Seven Periods of English Architecture Defined and Illustrated by Edmund Sharpe

The sum of the interior angles of a spherical triangle is always greater than two right angles, and increases with the area.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 6 "Geodesy" to "Geometry" by Various

This is also easily calculated by the same spherical triangle.

From Treatise on Light by Christiaan Huygens

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