Spirangle
Spiral polygonal chain
In geometry, a spirangle is a spiral polygonal chain. Spirangles are similar to spirals in that they expand from a center point as they grow larger, but they are made out of straight line segments, instead of curves. Spirangle vectographs are used in vision therapy to promote stereopsis and help resolve problems with hand-eye coordination.
01Two-dimensional spirangles
A two-dimensional spirangle is an open figure consisting of a line bent into angles similar to a corresponding polygon. The spirangle can start at a center point, or a distance from the center, and has some number of turns around the center point.
02Three-dimensional spirangles
Three-dimensional spirangles have layers that slant upward, progressively gaining height from the previous segment. This is similar to staircases in large buildings that turn at the top of each flight. The segments also may progressively lose an amount of length and resemble a pyramid.
03Uses
- Ophthalmology, vectograms
- Electronics, printed inductors
- Architecture, 'spiral' staircases
- Jewelry, earrings, pendants
- Search algorithms, optimal scanning of a region of interest, for example a crime scene or a region of the celestial sphere
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Spirangle”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Spirangle 3angle 5turn.jpg by No machine-readable author provided. Pmaccabe assumed (based on copyright claims)., Public domain
- Ulam-Spirale2.png by Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Spirangle 7angle 8turn.jpg by No machine-readable author provided. Pmaccabe assumed (based on copyright claims)., Public domain
- Spirangle 70angle 10grow.jpg by No machine-readable author provided. Pmaccabe assumed (based on copyright claims)., Public domain
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