Plane (geometry)

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Two intersecting planes in three-dimensional space

In mathematics, a plane is any flat, two-dimensional surface. A plane is the two dimensional
analogue of a point (zero-dimensions), a line (one-dimension) and a space (three-
dimensions). Planes can arise as subspaces of some higher dimensional space, as with the
walls of a room, or they may enjoy an independent existence in their own right, as in the
setting of Euclidean geometry.
When working in two-dimensional Euclidean space, the definite article is used, the plane, to
refer to the whole space. Many fundamental tasks in geometry, trigonometry, and graphing
are performed in two-dimensional space, or in other words, in the plane. A lot of mathematics
can be and has been performed in the plane, notably in the areas of geometry, trigonometry,
graph theory and graphing.
] Euclidean geometry
Main article: Euclidean Geometry
Euclid set forth the first known axiomatic treatment of geometry.[citation needed] He selected a
small core of undefined terms (called common notions) and postulates (or axioms) which he
then used to prove various geometrical statements. Although the plane in its modern sense is
not directly given a definition anywhere in the Elements, it may be thought of as part of the
common notions.[1] In his work Euclid never makes use of numbers to measure length, angle,
or area. In this way the Euclidean plane is not quite the same as the Cartesian plane.

Three parallel planes.

[edit] Planes embedded in ℝ3

This section is specifically concerned with planes embedded in three dimensions:
specifically, in ℝ3.
[edit] Properties
In three-dimensional Euclidean space, we may exploit the following facts that do not hold in
higher dimensions:
• Two planes are either parallel or they intersect in a line.
• A line is either parallel to a plane, intersects it at a single point, or is contained in the
plane.
• Two lines perpendicular to the same plane must be parallel to each other.
• Two planes perpendicular to the same line must be parallel to each other.
[edit] Definition with a point and a normal vector
In a three-dimensional space, another important way of defining a plane is by specifying a
point and a normal vector to the plane.
Let r0 be the position vector of some known point P0 in the plane, and let n be a nonzero
vector normal to the plane. The idea is that a point P with position vector r is in the plane if
and only if the vector drawn from P0 to P is perpendicular to n. Recalling that two vectors are
perpendicular if and only if their dot product is zero, it follows that the desired plane can be
expressed as the set of all points r such that

(The dot here means a dot product, not scalar multiplication.) Expanded this becomes

which is the familiar equation for a plane.[2]

[edit] Define a plane with a point and two vectors lying on it
Alternatively, a plane may be described parametrically as the set of all points of the form

where s and t range over all real numbers, v and w are given vectors defining the plane, and
r0 is the vector representing the position of an arbitrary (but fixed) point on the plane. The
vectors v and w can be visualized as vectors starting at r0 and pointing in different directions
along the plane. Note that v and w can be perpendicular, but cannot be parallel.
[edit] Define a plane through three points
Let p1=(x1, y1, z1), p2=(x2, y2, z2), and p3=(x3, y3, z3) be non-colinear points.
[edit] Method 1
The plane passing through p1, p2, and p3 can be defined as the set of all points (x,y,z) that
satisfy the following determinant equations:

[edit] Method 2
To describe the plane as an equation in the form ax + by + cz + d = 0, solve the following
system of equations:

This system can be solved using Cramer's Rule and basic matrix manipulations. Let

.
If D is non-zero (so for planes not through the origin) the values for a, b and c can be
calculated as follows:

These equations are parametric in d. Setting d equal to any non-zero number and substituting
it into these equations will yield one solution set.
[edit] Method 3
This plane can also be described by the "point and a normal vector" prescription above. A
suitable normal vector is given by the cross product

and the point r0 can be taken to be any of the given points p1,p2 or p3.[3]
[edit] Distance from a point to a plane

For a plane and a point not necessarily

lying on the plane, the shortest distance from to the plane is
It follows that lies in the plane if and only if D=0.

If meaning that a, b, and c are normalized then the equation becomes

[2]

[edit] Line of intersection between two planes

The line of intersection between two planes and

where are normalized is given by

where

This is found by noticing that the line must be perpendicular to both plane normals, and so
parallel to their cross product (this cross product is zero if and only if the planes are
parallel, and are therefore non-intersecting or entirely coincident).
The remainder of the expression is arrived at by finding an arbitrary point on the line. To do

so, consider that any point in space may be written as ,

since is a basis. We wish to find a point which is on both planes (i.e.

on their intersection), so insert this equation into each of the equations of the planes to get
two simultaneous equations which can be solved for c1 and c2.

If we further assume that and are orthonormal then the closest point on the line of

intersection to the origin is . If that is not the case, then a more

complex procedure must be used [1].
[edit] Dihedral angle

Given two intersecting planes described by and

, the dihedral angle between them is defined to be the

angle α between their normal directions:
[edit] Planes in various areas of mathematics
In addition to its familiar geometric structure, with isomorphisms that are isometries with
respect to the usual inner product, the plane may be viewed at various other levels of
abstraction. Each level of abstraction corresponds to a specific category.
At one extreme, all geometrical and metric concepts may be dropped to leave the topological
plane, which may be thought of as an idealized homotopically trivial infinite rubber sheet,
which retains a notion of proximity, but has no distances. The topological plane has a concept
of a linear path, but no concept of a straight line. The topological plane, or its equivalent the
open disc, is the basic topological neighborhood used to construct surfaces (or 2-manifolds)
classified in low-dimensional topology. Isomorphisms of the topological plane are all
continuous bijections. The topological plane is the natural context for the branch of graph
theory that deals with planar graphs, and results such as the four color theorem.
The plane may also be viewed as an affine space, whose isomorphisms are combinations of
translations and non-singular linear maps. From this viewpoint there are no distances, but
colinearity and ratios of distances on any line are preserved.
Differential geometry views a plane as a 2-dimensional real manifold, a topological plane
which is provided with a differential structure. Again in this case, there is no notion of
distance, but there is now a concept of smoothness of maps, for example a differentiable or
smooth path (depending on the type of differential structure applied). The isomorphisms in
this case are bijections with the chosen degree of differentiability.
In the opposite direction of abstraction, we may apply a compatible field structure to the
geometric plane, giving rise to the complex plane and the major area of complex analysis.
The complex field has only two isomorphisms that leave the real line fixed, the identity and
conjugation.
In the same way as in the real case, the plane may also be viewed as the simplest, one-
dimensional (over the complex numbers) complex manifold, sometimes called the complex
line. However, this viewpoint contrasts sharply with the case of the plane as a 2-dimensional
real manifold. The isomorphisms are all conformal bijections of the complex plane, but the
only possibilities are maps that correspond to the composition of a multiplication by a
complex number and a translation.
In addition, the Euclidean geometry (which has zero curvature everywhere) is not the only
geometry that the plane may have. The plane may be given a spherical geometry by using the
stereographic projection. This can be thought of as placing a sphere on the plane (just like a
ball on the floor), removing the top point, and projecting the sphere onto the plane from this
point). This is one of the projections that may be used in making a flat map of part of the
Earth's surface. The resulting geometry has constant positive curvature.
Alternatively, the plane can also be given a metric which gives it constant negative curvature
giving the hyperbolic plane. The latter possibility finds an application in the theory of special
relativity in the simplified case where there are two spatial dimensions and one time
dimension. (The hyperbolic plane is a timelike hypersurface in three-dimensional Minkowski
space.)
[edit] Topological and differential geometric notions
The one-point compactification of the plane is homeomorphic to a sphere (see stereographic
projection); the open disk is homeomorphic to a sphere with the "north pole" missing; adding
that point completes the (compact) sphere. The result of this compactification is a manifold
referred to as the Riemann sphere or the complex projective line. The projection from the
Euclidean plane to a sphere without a point is a diffeomorphism and even a conformal map.
The plane itself is homeomorphic (and diffeomorphic) to an open disk. For the Lobachevsky
plane such diffeomorphism is conformal, but for the Euclidean plane it is not.

[edit] Projective geometry

In projective geometry, a cylinder is simply a cone whose apex is at infinity, which

corresponds visually to a cylinder in perspective appearing to be a cone towards the sky.
In projective geometry, a cylinder is simply a cone whose apex is at infinity. Intuitively, if
one keeps the base fixed and takes the limit as the apex goes to infinity, one obtains a
cylinder, the angle of the side increasing as arctan, in the limit forming a right angle.
This is useful in the definition of degenerate conics, which require considering the cylindrical
conics.

polyhedron with a flat polygon base and triangular faces connecting the base to a common
point. In the case of a tetrahedron the base is a triangle (any of the four faces can be
considered the base), so a tetrahedron is also known as a triangular pyramid.
Like all convex polyhedra, a tetrahedron can be folded from a single sheet of paper. It has
two nets.[1]
For any tetrahedron there exists a sphere (the circumsphere) such that the tetrahedron's
vertices lie on the sphere's surface.

Note that with respect to the base plane the slope of a face ( ) is twice that of an edge (

), corresponding to the fact that the horizontal distance covered from the base to the apex
along an edge is twice that along the median of a face. In other words, if C is the centroid of
the base, the distance from C to a vertex of the base is twice that from C to the midpoint of an
edge of the base. This follows from the fact that the medians of a triangle intersect at its
centroid, and this point divides each of them in two segments, one of which is twice as long
as the other (see proof).
Volume
The volume of a tetrahedron is given by the pyramid volume formula:

where A0 is the area of the base and h the height from the base to the apex. This applies for
each of the four choices of the base, so the distances from the apexes to the opposite faces are
inversely proportional to the areas of these faces.
For a tetrahedron with vertices a = (a1, a2, a3), b = (b1, b2, b3), c = (c1, c2, c3), and d = (d1, d2,
d3), the volume is (1/6)·|det(a−b, b−c, c−d)|, or any other combination of pairs of vertices that
form a simply connected graph. This can be rewritten using a dot product and a cross product,
yielding
If the origin of the coordinate system is chosen to coincide with vertex d, then d = 0, so

where a, b, and c represent three edges that meet at one vertex, and is a scalar
triple product. Comparing this formula with that used to compute the volume of a
parallelepiped, we conclude that the volume of a tetrahedron is equal to 1/6 of the volume of
any parallelepiped that shares three converging edges with it.
The triple scalar can be represented by the following determinants:

or where is expressed
as a row or column vector etc.
Hence

where etc.
which gives

where are the plane angles occurring in vertex d. The angle is the angle between

the two edges connecting the vertex d to the vertices b and c. The angle does so for the
vertices a and c, while is defined by the position of the vertices a and b.
Given the distances between the vertices of a tetrahedron the volume can be computed using
the Cayley–Menger determinant:

where the subscripts represent the vertices and is the

pairwise distance between them—i.e., the length of the edge connecting the two vertices. A
negative value of the determinant means that a tetrahedron cannot be constructed with the
given distances. This formula, sometimes called Tartaglia's formula, is essentially due to the
painter Piero della Francesca in the 15th century, as a three dimensional analogue of the 1st
century Heron's formula for the area of a triangle.[5]
Distance between the edges
Any two opposite edges of a tetrahedron lie on two skew lines. If the closest pair of points
between these two lines are points in the edges, they define the distance between the edges;
otherwise, the distance between the edges equals that between one of the endpoints and the
opposite edge. Let d be the distance between the skew lines formed by opposite edges a and
b-c as calculated in.[6] Then another volume formula is given by

Properties of a generalized tetrahedron

The tetrahedron has many properties analogous to those of a triangle, including an insphere,
circumsphere, medial tetrahedron, and exspheres. It has respective centers such as incenter,
circumcenter, excenters, Spieker center and points such as a centroid. However, there is
generally no orthocenter in the sense of intersecting altitudes. The circumsphere of the medial
tetrahedron is analogous to the triangle's nine point circle, but does not generally pass through
the base points of the altitudes of the reference tetrahedron.[7]
Gaspard Monge found a 'center' that exists in every tetrahedron, now known as the Monge
point: the point where the six midplanes of a tetrahedron intersect. A midplane is defined as a
plane that is orthogonal to an edge joining any two vertices that also contains the centroid of
an opposite edge formed by joining the other two vertices. If the tetrahedron's altitudes do
intersect, the Monge point and the orthocenter coincide.
An orthogonal line dropped from the Monge point to any face meets that face at the midpoint
of the line segment between that face's orthocenter and the foot of the altitude dropped from
the opposite vertex.
The centroid of a tetrahedron lies at the midpoint of its Monge point and circumcenter, on the
Euler line of the tetrahedron.
The nine-point circle of the general triangle has an analogue in the circumsphere of a
tetrahedron's medial tetrahedron. It is the twelve-point sphere and besides the centroids of
the four faces of the reference tetrahedron, it passes through four substitute Euler points, 1/3
of the way from the Monge point toward each of the four vertices. Finally it passes through
the four base points of orthogonal lines dropped from each Euler point to the face not
containing the vertex that generated the Euler point.[8]
The center T of the twelve-point sphere also lies on the Euler line. Unlike its triangular
counterpart, this center lies 1/3 of the way from the Monge point M towards the circumcenter.
Also, an orthogonal line through T to a chosen face is coplanar with two other orthogonal
lines to the same face. The first is an orthogonal line passing through the corresponding Euler
point to the chosen face. The second is an orthogonal line passing through the centroid of the
chosen face. This orthogonal line through the twelve-point center lies midway between the
Euler point orthogonal line and the centroidal orthogonal line. Furthermore, for any face, the
twelve-point center lies at the mid point of the corresponding Euler point and the orthocenter
for that face.
The radius of the twelve-point sphere is 1/3 of the circumradius of the reference tetrahedron.
If OABC forms a generalized tetrahedron with a vertex O as the origin and vectors and
represent the positions of the vertices A, B, and C with respect to O, then the radius of the
insphere is given by[citation needed]:

and the radius of the circumsphere is given by:

which gives the radius of the twelve-point sphere:

where:

In the formulas throughout this section, the scalar a² represents the inner vector product a·a;
similarly b² and c².
The vector positions of various centers are as follows:
The centroid

The incenter

The circumcenter

The Monge point

The Euler line relationships are:

where is twelve-point center.
Also:

and:

Geometric relations
A tetrahedron is a 3-simplex. Unlike the case of the other Platonic solids, all the vertices of a
regular tetrahedron are equidistant from each other (they are the only possible arrangement of
four equidistant points in 3-dimensional space).
A tetrahedron is a triangular pyramid, and the regular tetrahedron is self-dual.
A regular tetrahedron can be embedded inside a cube in two ways such that each vertex is a
vertex of the cube, and each edge is a diagonal of one of the cube's faces. For one such
embedding, the Cartesian coordinates of the vertices are
(+1, +1, +1);
(−1, −1, +1);
(−1, +1, −1);
(+1, −1, −1).
This yields a tetrahedron with edge-length 2√2, centered at the origin. For the other
tetrahedron (which is dual to the first), reverse all the signs. These two tetrahedra's vertices
combined are the vertices of a cube, demonstrating that the regular tetrahedron is the 3-
demicube.
The volume of this tetrahedron is 1/3 the volume of the cube. Combining both tetrahedra
gives a regular polyhedral compound called the compound of two tetrahedra or stella
octangula.
The interior of the stella octangula is an octahedron, and correspondingly, a regular
octahedron is the result of cutting off, from a regular tetrahedron, four regular tetrahedra of
half the linear size (i.e., rectifying the tetrahedron).
The above embedding divides the cube into five tetrahedra, one of which is regular. In fact, 5
is the minimum number of tetrahedra required to compose a cube.
Inscribing tetrahedra inside the regular compound of five cubes gives two more regular
compounds, containing five and ten tetrahedra.
Regular tetrahedra cannot tessellate space by themselves, although this result seems likely
enough that Aristotle claimed it was possible. However, two regular tetrahedra can be
combined with an octahedron, giving a rhombohedron that can tile space.
However, there is at least one irregular tetrahedron of which copies can tile space. If one
relaxes the requirement that the tetrahedra be all the same shape, one can tile space using
only tetrahedra in various ways. For example, one can divide an octahedron into four
identical tetrahedra and combine them again with two regular ones. (As a side-note: these two
kinds of tetrahedron have the same volume.)
The tetrahedron is unique among the uniform polyhedra in possessing no parallel faces.
Related polyhedra

•
Truncated tetrahedron

•
Two tetrahedra in a cube

•
Compound of five tetrahedra

•
Compound of ten tetrahedra
A truncation process applied to the tetrahedron produces a series of uniform polyhedra.
Truncating edges down to points produces the octahedron as a rectified tetahedron. The
process completes as a birectification, reducing the original faces down to points, and
producing the self-dual tetrahedron once again.
n
The vertices of a cube can be grouped into two groups of four, each forming a regular
tetrahedron (see above, and also animation, showing one of the two tetrahedra in the cube).
The symmetries of a regular tetrahedron correspond to half of those of a cube: those that map
the tetrahedrons to themselves, and not to each other.
The tetrahedron is the only Platonic solid that is not mapped to itself by point inversion.
The regular tetrahedron has 24 isometries, forming the symmetry group Td, isomorphic to S4.
They can be categorized as follows:
• T, isomorphic to alternating group A4 (the identity and 11 proper rotations) with the
following conjugacy classes (in parentheses are given the permutations of the vertices,
or correspondingly, the faces, and the unit quaternion representation):
○ identity (identity; 1)
○ rotation about an axis through a vertex, perpendicular to the opposite plane, by
an angle of ±120°: 4 axes, 2 per axis, together 8 ((1 2 3), etc.; (1 ± i ± j ± k)/2)
○ rotation by an angle of 180° such that an edge maps to the opposite edge: 3 ((1
2)(3 4), etc.; i, j, k)
• reflections in a plane perpendicular to an edge: 6
• reflections in a plane combined with 90° rotation about an axis perpendicular to the
plane: 3 axes, 2 per axis, together 6; equivalently, they are 90° rotations combined
with inversion (x is mapped to −x): the rotations correspond to those of the cube about
face-to-face axes
Isometries of irregular tetrahedra
The isometries of an irregular tetrahedron depend on the geometry of the tetrahedron, with 7
cases possible. In each case a 3-dimensional point group is formed.
• An equilateral triangle base and isosceles (and non-equilateral) triangle sides gives 6
isometries, corresponding to the 6 isometries of the base. As permutations of the
vertices, these 6 isometries are the identity 1, (123), (132), (12), (13) and (23),
forming the symmetry group C3v, isomorphic to S3.
• Four congruent isosceles (non-equilateral) triangles gives 8 isometries. If edges (1,2)
and (3,4) are of different length to the other 4 then the 8 isometries are the identity 1,
reflections (12) and (34), and 180° rotations (12)(34), (13)(24), (14)(23) and improper
90° rotations (1234) and (1432) forming the symmetry group D2d.
• Four congruent scalene triangles gives 4 isometries. The isometries are 1 and the 180°
rotations (12)(34), (13)(24), (14)(23). This is the Klein four-group V4 ≅ Z22, present
as the point group D2.
• Two pairs of isomorphic isosceles (non-equilateral) triangles. This gives two opposite
edges (1,2) and (3,4) that are perpendicular but different lengths, and then the 4
isometries are 1, reflections (12) and (34) and the 180° rotation (12)(34). The
symmetry group is C2v, isomorphic to V4.
• Two pairs of isomorphic scalene triangles. This has two pairs of equal edges (1,3),
(2,4) and (1,4), (2,3) but otherwise no edges equal. The only two isometries are 1 and
the rotation (12)(34), giving the group C2 isomorphic to Z2.
• Two unequal isosceles triangles with a common base. This has two pairs of equal
edges (1,3), (1,4) and (2,3), (2,4) and otherwise no edges equal. The only two
isometries are 1 and the reflection (34), giving the group Cs isomorphic to Z2.
• No edges equal, so that the only isometry is the identity, and the symmetry group is
the trivial group.
The stella octangula.

The stella octangula.