solid angle

noun

, Geometry.

an angle formed by three or more planes intersecting in a common point or formed at the vertex of a cone.

solid angle

a geometric surface consisting of lines originating from a common point (the vertex) and passing through a closed curve or polygon: measured in steradians

solid angle

A three-dimensional angle, formed by three or more planes intersecting at a common point. Its magnitude is measured in steradians, a unitless measure. The corner of a room forms a solid angle, as does the apex of a cone; one can imagine an indefinite number of planes forming the smooth round surface of the cone all intersecting at the apex. Solid angles are commonly used in photometry.

First recorded in 1695–1705

If a solid angle be contained by three plane angles, any two of them are together greater than the third.

Three regular polygons of six or more sides cannot form a solid angle.

Hence it is possible to form a solid angle with three, four or five regular triangles or faces.

A similar difference exists between a solid angle and an n-edge or an n-flat.

There is no telling what the web and rivets would have borne had not the solid angle irons given way at the first bend.

April 19, 2024tortuous

[tawr-choo-uhs ]

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